Truth or Dare
by K-chu
Summary: Who would've thought that a simple sentence could send the stoic, sole surviving Uchiha reeling. "Sasuke-kun! The truth is… I-I… you see, I… I touch myself thinking of you!" Life between Sasuke and Sakura would never be the same.
1. The Game Begins

**Title:** Truth or Dare

**Genre:** Humor/Romance

**Summary:** Who would've thought that a simple sentence could send the stoic, sole surviving Uchiha reeling. "Sasuke-kun! The truth is… I-I… you see, I… I touch myself thinking of you!" Life between Sasuke and Sakura would never be the same.

**Author's Notes: **Hehe, needed a fun one to work on in between my other dark stuff. I was going to upload this in my oneshot collection but I think it will take at least three chapters to complete. Next chapter will be in Sasuke's POV (now that will be entertaining to write lol). Somehow my chapters always end up being 5000 words or more, yesh. This is a bit AU'ish as I imagine it to take place after Sasuke completes his revenge and returns to Konoha but at the same time, the characters are rather carefree + Neji is still alive (ehem, if you don't read the manga just pretend you didn't read that... but you really should get your butt into gear and get caught up!).

Please, if you can, spare a minute to review! It makes me happy ^p^

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**Chapter 1: **The Game Begins

. . .

I.

Laughter filled the room as four girls sat comfortably on their sprawled out sleeping bags, sharing gossip and all the filthy details of their teams. Sakura wiped tears from her eyes as she listened to Tenten recount the latest saga on the ongoing Lee-Neji rivalry. It was one of those rare occasions where the girls' schedules lined up and allowed for them to have a small slumber party at Ino's house.

Things were going smoothly, with the junk food laid out on the ground before them, and not a care in the world. That was, things _were_. The mood, for Sakura, was shattered when her best friend and rival suggested they play a 'little game.' Games never boded well for Sakura when Ino was involved, and they were never 'little', as the blonde audaciously suggested. Sakura did not miss the opportunity to share her displeasure by sending a glare in her friend's direction.

"I know the perfect game for us to play!" Ino's loud voice chimed smugly, as she cast a mischievous glance at the pink haired girl sitting across from her.

It was times like these, Sakura realized, that she truly, without a doubt, hated her best friend. She knew _that _look. That arrogant, prepare-to-be-put-in-your-place, holier-than-thou look that only ever promised humiliation and defeat for Sakura. She also knew, from the smug tone of her pig-headed friend, exactly which game she was talking about.

"Truth or Dare!" Sakura cringed as the words left Ino's lips.

Now, any normal person would find having to perform an embarrassing and altogether troublesome 'Dare' rather painful. The natural way to counteract that unpleasantness was to take the easy route by choosing 'Truth'. Should be no problem, right? Wrong. When you play with Yamanaka Ino, there is no easy way out because of her infernal clan's ability to possess and invade the thoughts of another person's mind. Whenever a person's answer to Truth questions raised the possibility of doubt, it was an accepted rule of the game that Ino was allowed to use her technique to verify the validity of the response; in Sakura's case, the blonde applied this rule rather liberally and frequently slipped into her mind to divulge all the nitty-gritty details of the truth.

The feel of Ino rummaging inside her head was absolutely dreadful. Maybe even worse than the humiliating Dares the blonde always seemed to have in store for her. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if Ino stayed up late into the night thinking of potential Dares she could one day ask her. One time Ino dared her to purchase a copy of Icha Icha Paradise, to which she accomplished with much embarrassment and sideward glances from the shop owner. Not _so_ bad. Except on her way out she bumped into none other than her sensei, Kakashi, who simply had to point out how proud he was that one of his student's took after him. Since that day, he treated her like a closet-pervert.

On another occasion, Ino dared her to run around the block wearing only her tight bicycle shorts and a bra. You'd think because this took place in the middle of the night that no one would be around to witness her in such a state but such an assumption would, in fact, be wrong. First, she ran into Jiraiya who was stumbling down the deserted street, clearly intoxicated but sober enough to snicker and all but rape her with his eyes. If that wasn't horrifying enough, just when she thought she was home free and could see Ino's house in her line of sight, she collided face first into the rock-solid chest of, who else, but Kakashi. As he reached down an arm to help her up off the ground, he just had to ask if she was re-enacting the scene from the latest Icha Icha Paradise volume, in which the heroine is seduced by a stripper-lady in the late hours of the evening. She remembered gapping at him, at a loss for words, with her cheeks as red as the Sharingan in his left eye. Then she let out a muffled scream and ran, tears of embarrassment burning in her eyes.

She was sort of starting to wonder if Kakashi was stalking her.

The punishment for those who failed to complete a Dare was almost as bad as having to do the Dare itself since they had to serve as a virtual slave for an entire day to the person who Dared them. In Sakura's case, this was usually Ino, and Ino made damn sure to inflict the maximum damage to her pride by forcing her to perform a large array of degrading tasks and chores. The ridicule she received and the constant gloating made such a failure entirely unbearable.

To say Sakura hated the game of Truth or Dare was, quite simply, an understatement. Why someone would come up with such a sadistic game was beyond her. No, actually, correction. She knew exactly why someone invented the game. Clearly, they were as sadistic as Ino, perhaps even a distant relative, and relished the torment of kind, gentle, innocent individuals such as Sakura; she had a very flattering image of herself.

Sakura crossed her arms above her head in a large X.

"No way!" She stated firmly, shaking her head for added emphasis, not caring at all how childish she was being.

"Aww," the smugness never left Ino's sickly sweet tone, "Is little Sakura too much of a chicken?"

"I am not a chicken!" She pouted, resenting how her so-called best friend constantly looked down on her. "I just refuse to partake in such a childish game." Sakura now crossed her arms over her chest and 'hmphed' with her head turned to the side.

Ino leaned forward a bit and pointed at her pink haired friend, "Just admit it _Saku-chan_, you're too chicken to play such a grown up game."

"I. Am. Not!" Her cheeks were turning pink from uncontained anger boiling in her gut. Ino always knew just the right things to say to push her buttons and for the life of her, she couldn't quite remember why they were best friends in the first place.

"Really?" The blonde asked with feigned curiosity, "You could've fooled me. And, besides that, did you care to think whether Tenten or Hinata wanted to play?" At the mention of the other two girls, Sakura's attention snapped to them, silently imploring them with a desperate look to side with her.

Tenten scratched the back of her head sheepishly and coughed, "I… sort of…" a fleeting look at Sakura before she uttered the words that all but punched the rosette directly in the gut, "want to play."

No! Sakura's world crumbled a little as she looked at her sole remaining hope. Hinata was a shy and modest girl, surely she would side with her because wholesome girls should stick together.

"U-um…" The pale eyed Hyuuga found sudden interest in her lap with all three girls eyeing her intently. She gulped, "I-it could be fun," her voice trailed off before she looked up apologetically at a mortified Sakura, "I'm sorry, Sakura-san!"

Why. Why did she have friends at all.

Sakura's chin dropped to her chest and her shoulders slumped forward in complete and utter dejection. Who was it that said you could rely on friends to get you through the day?

Ino clapped her hands in excitement, "Wonderful! Truth or Dare it is. Everyone knows the rules, we'll draw sticks to decide who goes first," she grinned as she pulled out four toothpicks from her pocket, and broke the end off one.

The action made Sakura's eyebrow twitch. The evil, conniving witch had been planning this from the start.

"Ok, each of us picks a stick. The one who draws the short one gets to start us off." Ino fisted her fingers around the sticks so all appeared to be of equal length, and held them out for the drawing to start. Sakura, Tenten and Hinata collectively swallowed as they pinched their fingers around their chosen toothpicks and pulled them out to examine which of them drew the short stick.

"Ha, I guess I get to go first!" Tenten smirked as she victoriously held up her toothpick for all to see. Without much hesitation, she turned to Hinata and asked, "So, admit it… Does Naruto know yet that all these 'dates' you two have been going on recently are actually dates?"

The pale-eyed girl's cheeks flamed a deep shade of red and she sputtered for words, "A-ano… I-I… Well, you see…" At last she buried her head in her hands and shook her head, too devastated to utter the word 'no' out loud. The other three girls laughed softly before Tenten reached over and gave Hinata a reassuring pat on the back, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll realize eventually." For all of Naruto's emotional strength, he was still blind to Hinata's lifelong crush and love for him.

Once Hinata collected herself, she looked between all three girls before settling on Ino, "Truth or Dare?" She asked meekly.

"Dare." There was no fazing Ino. She was the undefeated master of the evil game.

"Oh, um…" as her voice trailed off, Hinata looked to Tenten and Sakura for help, to which they happily complied. It took the power of their three minds to come up with a worthwhile Dare, though they lacked the same finesse that the blonde-haired female seemed to naturally possess.

"Ok," Hinata looked up with some determination, "I dare you to kiss the first male to walk by your house."

"Is that all?" Ino rolled her eyes and got up from her comfortable position on the sleeping bag. "I could do something like this in my sleep," without the slightest bit of unease, she left her bedroom and made her way to the streets below.

Sakura, followed by the remaining two girls, rushed over to the window and eagerly awaited to see who Ino would have to kiss.

"I hope it's an old geezer," Sakura grumbled under her breath. "No wait. I hope it's a horribly disfigured, smelly old geezer," she corrected herself with a snicker. That would definitely be worth all the dread of playing this horrible game. The image kept replaying in her mind, making her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Without even realizing it a maniacal grin twisted onto her face and her eyes gleamed with a certain sinister quality that would definitely scare away any poor child that happened to look up at her.

"Sakura… stop making that face, it's creepy." Tenten shivered as she looked at her friend with a semi-disturbed expression.

"S-sorry," was Sakura's mumbled reply.

Suddenly, they noticed a rather elderly man hobbling down the street and Sakura couldn't help but giggle. Maybe he wasn't disfigured but this was close enough. She could already picture how often she'd retell this story to humiliate Ino amongst their friends.

The girls held a collective breath as Ino casually walked up to the man. Sakura's heart beat wildly in her chest and the anticipation made her throat go dry. She watched, without moving a muscle as Ino took the old man by the arm and led him to the other side of the street. Odd. Don't know why that was necessary, but whatever. As long as the result is all the same.

Slowly, Ino leaned in with a smile on her soft features.

This was it. Sakura could feel the euphoria coursing through her veins.

The blonde leaned in a little closer and… planted a chaste kiss on the man's on the cheek before waving goodbye to him and looking up in triumph at the girls in the window.

"What!" Sakura's heart plummeted as she slammed her palms against the window in disappointment.

"A kiss on the cheek, are you kidding me!?" The whole time Sakura was imagining Ino's humiliation, it was over a definite lip-lock with an unsuspecting male. It never once crossed her mind that when you tell someone to kiss another person, they could miscue it to mean a peck on the damn cheek!

"Argh, we should've said a kiss on the lips!" Tenten smacked herself in bitter resentment for how things panned out.

"S-she made that look so natural… Helping him to cross the street." Hinata stated in partial awe. If it had been any one of the three of them, they would've turned the whole ordeal into a fantastical scene, which would probably end in sexual assault charges.

Ino returned to her room with her ego inflated impossibly higher. How that was even possible, Sakura had no idea because she had felt certain that the blonde's ego was at maximum capacity. Maybe her clan possessed a secret jutsu that enabled them to access unchartered heights of egoism. Anything is possible in the shinobi world, right?

Shuffling her feet back to her sleeping bag, Sakura sat down and grabbed the bowl of half-eaten popcorn to ease her disheartened mood.

The other's resumed their sitting positions as well. Tenten and Hinata looked expectantly at Ino, while Sakura's head remained immersed in the bowl of popcorn, completely oblivious to the mounting anticipation around her.

An unpleasant, smug voice broke through her bubble, snapping her attention back to the game of which she was an unwilling participant.

"I guess that means it's my turn," Ino beamed happily before putting a finger on her chin. "My, my, I wonder who I should pick," her eyes started to shift over the three girls and her grin turned into a dangerous looking smirk.

Sakura felt the dread start to creep in on her face as her stomach fell. Her palms grew sweaty and pupils dilated. No, no, no. Please don't pick me. Please don't pick me.

Please. Don't. Pick. Me.

She chanted the phrase in her head, praying to every god out there to bend her friend's subconscious mind into picking either Hinata or Tenten. Why did it always have to be her at the pig's mercy! She squinted her eyes shut and continued her chant.

"Sa-ku-ra." Said pink-haired female never hated her name more. Not when it was pronounced so mischievously by Ino; it was laced with something sinister and the promise of sure indignity.

"Ino-pig! You always pick me, it's not fair!" Sakura pushed the popcorn bowl off her lap and slapped her hands to the floor in a fit. Whatever happened to friends being nice to one another!

"Don't have a temper tantrum, Sakura. It makes the vein on your temple pop out so your forehead looks even bigger." Ino poked out her tongue, watching as Sakura's mouth dropped open at the appalling insult.

Quickly, her hands rose to cover her forehead and she glared, "It does not pop out!" If she weren't sitting in front of Ino and had no remorse for her pride, she might've run out of the room to double-check that claim in front of the mirror. As it was, she focused on reining in the urge to pout.

Ino rolled her eyes and flipped her bangs to the side before asking the inevitable, "So, what's it going to be, Truth or Dare?" Everyone's attention fell on the rosette, who internally raged with the impossibly hard choice. It was basically like asking someone '_so, what way do you want to die? Impalement or burning?' _

Whichever answer she chose, Ino would undoubtedly make her regret it. To pick Dare ultimately meant public humiliation and the likely chance of making Kakashi think she was even more perverted than he already thought. To pick Truth, resulted in much the same but it would at least be more or less contained within their circle of friends. Apply the term 'circle of friends' generously though, because Ino had a rather large mouth.

Ugh. She really didn't feel degrading herself publicly tonight. Making her decision, she looked dead straight into Ino's eyes, her brows narrowed with resolve.

"Truth."

With an equally level tone, and in the absence of shame, Ino asked, "Have you ever masturbated to thoughts of Sasuke-kun?"

…

"Dare! I choose dare!" Sakura yelled, jumping up to shake the blonde by the shoulders. It turns out she would rather be humiliated publicly then answer a question like that. Especially not when Ino would use her weapon of mass destruction and see everything that… her cheeks turned a bright red.

"You can't do that," Ino frowned and brushed her friend's hands off her shoulders, seemingly unmoved by her obvious sense of panic.

"I… I meant to say Dare from the start! I just… the word Truth accidentally slipped out…" She finished lamely. She now stared at her lap pathetically, letting her bangs fall in front of her eyes. Maybe if she cried a little Ino would take pity on her. No, that would never happen. Instead, Ino would use that as further ammunition to torment her within the near and distant future. Crying was definitely _not _an option.

"Ok, ok," Ino waved her off, suddenly smirking with yet another sadistic plan forming in her evil head. "I'll believe you Sakura," her hand reached forward and she tipped her friend's chin up to look her directly in the eye, "Many wouldn't, but I will."

Sakura had to hold back a shiver. Suddenly she felt her stomach start to tie in knots, and bile lurch in the back of her throat. _That _look. It made her want to go cower under the covers of her sleeping bag and never come out.

The words departed Ino's mouth, slowly, in an effort to prolong the drawn out, devastating death blow.

"I dare you," blue eyes narrowed, "to tell Sasuke-kun that you touch yourself thinking of him."

Sakura knew her friend's lips were moving; she could even hear sounds filtering in through her ears. She thought she heard everything but surely she must've been mistaken because there was no way her best friend was asking her to tell Sasuke that she touched herself thinking of him.

She continued to stare, wide-eyed and mouth agape at the blonde haired shinobi. In the back of her mind, she heard Tenten gasp and Hinata release a strangled sound, as if she were on the verge of fainting. Yeah. She, was definitely screwed.

With her victory expression growing, Ino arched an eyebrow, "Do you need me to repeat myself, forehead?" Sakura knew better then to assume the question had been asked out of actual concern for her having missed something. Rather, it was a way for Ino to rub in the fact that she had found a Dare impossible to complete.

Finally breaking out of her shock, Sakura snapped, "You can't honestly expect me to say that!" This was low, even for Ino. It was depressing to admit, but she knew that Sasuke only found her existence tolerable because they were on the same team. She couldn't imagine how low his opinion of her would fall if she said something like _that_. Moreover, and most importantly, she would literally die from embarrassment. In fact, she couldn't even repeat the sentence _inside her head _without blushing.

Sakura was one of those girls that said 'thingy' instead of… well, you know, the 'D-word' for the male anatomical part. Sure, she was a gifted medic but that didn't mean she could apply the same clinical rhetoric to _sex_.

"All you're doing is telling him the truth, aren't you?" Ino winked, enjoying the way she could make the rosette squirm in discomfort.

"Th-that's not true! I never…!" She smacked her friend's shoulder and puffed up her cheeks.

"Hmm, I guess you want to quit then?" There was that sickly sweet, mocking tone once again.

Sakura's fingers fisted into the material of the sleeping bag. A frown adorned her face while she struggled to find the words most fitting for an honorable admittance of defeat. Sadly, nothing came to mind. Instead, the sound of Ino's gloating voice irritatingly rang in her ear, making her want to slap her hands at the side of her head to knock the dreadful burning sensation in her eardrums. Oh, how she loathed submitting to Ino.

The blonde goaded her further, "Just admit that I have you beat." Sakura's teeth clenched together, yet still, the Yamanaka clan member continued.

"I'm _so _excited to have you as my slave for the day. There's so many backorders at the shop that need to be caught up on, and I've been wanting a pedicure for the past week," she leaned in to whisper in Sakura's ear, "You get to be the one to wash my feet. Maybe I'll even let you wash Chouji's fee-"

"I'll never lose to you!" Sakura yelled without thinking, pointing an angry finger in the blonde's chest. There was no way she could admit defeat to Ino, she had her pride as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf and she would be remiss if she allowed her to think she held some form of superiority over her all because of some ridiculous game!

"Those are some big words, Sakura. Can you actually follow through with them?" Ino's head tilted in innocent curiosity, but Sakura knew there was not an innocent bone hidden in her conniving friend's body.

Standing up and snatching the cordless phone from the desk in the far corner of Ino's room, Sakura glared down at her friend. "I live by my promises, I won't lose," she snarled.

Taking in a deep breath, she hurriedly dialed her stoic, teammate's number, not wanting to lose her nerve as the time slipped by. The phone rang. And rang. And rang. Her tense muscles started to relax, thinking he wasn't going to pick up. It's not considered losing if Sasuke's not around, right?

Another ring.

Sakura started to pull the phone away from her ear in preparation of hanging up. She opened her mouth to tell the girls that no one was there, and began, managing to utter the first syllable, "no—"

"_Hello_?" A gruff greeting could be heard coming from the receiver. Instantly, Sakura froze. Her eyes widened to saucers and her breathing halted entirely, that familiar cold sweat started to break out all over her body and her heart rate spiked to an almost painful level.

That… had to be her imagination. Yes. There was no way Sasuke answered, and there was no way she foolishly called him in the middle of the night to say she did _stuff _while thinking of him. No. Way.

"Is someone there?" The voice lowered in annoyance, and for once in her entire, miserable life, she wished to god that Sasuke would just shut up. Yes. The stoic, cold as ice, man of extremely limited words, for once spoke too much.

Shakily, she brought the receiver back up to her ear, breathing heavily into phone. She swallowed, and breathlessly spoke, "Sasuke-kun."

Immediately she regretted it. What a horrible mistake. Was her giant forehead filled with nothing but air!? Because surely she did not just speak when she could've just hung up the phone and pretended this phone call never happened. You know, maintain at least some of her dignity, at least in the eyes of her long time crush. That brief moment of adrenaline that ran through her veins only minutes ago had vanished, turning her once more into the quivering, weak girl she really was.

It's okay, she tried to reassure herself. Sasuke didn't really pay much attention to her anyways so he probably couldn't recognize her voice. She could still get out of this.

"Sakura?"

She slapped her forehead. For the second time that night, she really hated her name.

"Y-yes." She stuttered, sounding very much like Hinata. No other words followed as her brain decided to abandon her and drop into an abyss where not much of anything made sense at all.

Neither spoke for a good minute, which was quite alright with Sakura because she honestly had no clue on how to proceed.

Surprising her yet again, it was Sasuke to break the silence. "Is there something you want?" She could tell from his voice that he was growing rather impatient and probably wanted to hang up, but she also noticed a small rasp-like quality to his tone that one normally got in the moments after waking up. Distracted by this thought, her brows knit together and she glanced over at the time.

_11:14pm. _

Wow, it was much later then she realized. All of a sudden she felt ashamed with herself, "O-oh, I'm so sorry! Did I wake you, Sasuke-kun?" Knowing his training regiments, he probably went to bed quite early. She heard him release a frustrated sigh.

"Sakura."

She knew what meant. It was his abbreviated way of asking '_Can you just get to the point?' _Ever the man who got straight to the point. He didn't even give her the chance to regain feeling in her legs or recapture her resolve. Nope. He just wanted to get right down to the self-inflicted knock-out punch to her limited pride.

Her fingers trembled as she pressed the receiver even closer to her ear. Her heartbeat was beating erratically in her chest and for several uncomfortable seconds, her faint, shallow breaths were the only sound made. The heat in her cheeks was a clear indication that her face was as red as a beet and the butterflies seemed to flap thunderously in her stomach.

Oh god. She didn't think she could do this after all.

"Look. I'm going to hang up now," his curt reply broke the silence.

"No wait!" Desperately she pleaded into the phone. Really, she chastised herself. Was she subconsciously a masochist? Why didn't she just let him hang up and let him to think of her as a complete idiot. Naruto lived with the nickname 'dobe', surely she could get used to it too. They could rename Team 7 to Team Idiot and live happily ever after.

Maybe it was the way Ino's face lit up as she started to snicker. Or maybe she didn't want to feel as though she had wasted Sasuke's time over absolutely _nothing_. Whatever it was, her mouth continued to act on its own.

"I… the truth is… the truth is that…" she wiped a line of sweat that had formed on her forehead and took a shaky breath.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun!" She yelled with her eyes squinted shut before going in for the kill, "I-I… you see… I… I touch myself thinking of you!" As soon as the stammered sentence left her mouth, she pulled the phone away from her ear and slammed down on the 'end' button to disconnect the call. Without any further strength, she collapsed onto her knees and stared blankly at her lap.

Apparently she would rather Sasuke think of her as a pervert than an idiot.

No one spoke, too stunned to say anything until finally, after a good several minutes passed Ino's breathless voice cut through the silence.

"Wow forehead, I didn't think you had it in you."

Just like that the world as she knew it came crashing down upon her. There was no way she could ever talk to Sasuke again. She wouldn't even be able to look at him. Were there any shinobi teams that needed another member? Maybe she could request Kakashi-sensei to send in a request to have her reassigned. Would Tsunade-sama let her join a group from one of the other hidden villages? That would be most preferable because there was no way in hell she could ever face Sasuke again.

Sayonara, Haruno Sakura. Hello, new-named girl from a far off land.

II.

Five days.

Sakura had somehow made it the better part of a week, employing every shinobi tactic she'd learned over the years to avoid the infamous Uchiha. It was no easy feat either, because as far as shinobi go, Sasuke was about as stealthy as they came. And, it didn't help that he and Naruto made frequent visits to the hospital due to their over-exertive training habits. Already this week they had been in on three separate occasions, but she managed to avoid them by, very forcefully, compelling the hospital staff to deny all knowledge of her whereabouts. She had to wonder, though, if they were pulling for a record.

When she did leave the safety of the hospital or her house, she made sure to travel on busy streets so she could blend in to the crowd and dodge into alleyways and shops at the slightest hint of a possible Sasuke-sighting. She was actually getting pretty good at the whole avoidance routine.

At least, that's what she thought until Naruto cornered her earlier in the day, asking her to meet up with him and Sasuke for ramen later that evening. Funny. She never thought Sasuke was much of a ramen eater.

"Sorry Naruto, I'm very busy tonight!" She informed her friend, feeling a little bad that he had to be dragged into the 'Avoid-Sasuke-Like-The-Plague' plan. It especially left a bitter taste in her mouth when Naruto's face fell and he sadly asked, "Did I do something to upset you?"

Quickly, she hugged him to reassure him that there were no hard feelings between them. "I promise you Naruto, I'm not mad at you," she paused, carefully choosing her next words.

"To prove it, let's go on a date tomorrow night, just the two of us!" She smiled warmly and felt her heart flutter when the blonde gave her his signature grin and a thumbs up.

The moment she made it back inside her house, she promptly called the Hyuuga heiress to inform her that, whatever news she heard, she was _not _making a move on Naruto. It was simply, the only way she could ensure that the third member of their team was not invited.

For the rest of the evening, she remained holed up in her house until a light tap on the door alerted her attention. Sighing, and pulling away from the medical text she was currently reading, she slowly made her way to the door.

She shivered a little at the cool air that met her, but that was quickly forgotten when she realized who she'd just come face-to-face with. It was like all those horror stories she read where the unsuspecting female opens the door to find the devil incarnate glaring down at her.

"Sasuke-kun," she breathed out. Eyes wide, feet glued in place and suddenly feeling numb all over, she held onto the door tightly for support. What was he doing here?! She couldn't even think of a time when the raven-haired male had ever come to her house.

With his eyes narrowed and a frown marring his carefully chiselled features, she had to say he looked rather angry. In fact, for an Uchiha, she might just as well say he was downright pissed.

Did her 'confession' disgust him so much that he felt annoyed with her? The thought made her stomach drop and tears prickle the corners of her viridian eyes. To make him mad at her stung more than the thought of him thinking she was some kind of pervert. He must've been especially cross if he bothered to come all the way to her house just to yell at her.

Her shoulders dropped and her head bowed in heartbreak.

"We need to talk." His surly tone, laced with impatience, seemed to bite her skin in much the same way as the air does on a winter's day. Though, he didn't give her much time to dwell on it.

"It's about th-"

Instantly her eyes snapped up. He actually wanted to _talk _about it. As in, her telling him that she… Her face flushed. She remembered then and there why she'd been avoiding him so adamantly. She did not want to talk about _that_. No. In no way did she want to hear whatever mortifying, harsh, bitter words he had to say on the matter. He should know to act as though nothing happened, like any normal person would do under the same circumstances.

"Oh my goodness!" She shrieked loudly, not having to try too hard to fake urgency in her voice as she interrupted him. "I just remembered I have somewhere important to be! Yes! Um, well sorry! I uh, I gotta go," quickly she slammed the door in his face and dead-bolted it, leaving a stunned Uchiha on her front step.

Nevermind that the 'important place she had to be' was right inside her own house. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do in order to save herself from a fiery, heart-stopping and humiliating end.

All she had to do was outlast an Uchiha. How hard could that be?

Sakura's form slid down the cold wooden door and she buried her head in her knees and hands. All she could think was that she was, indeed, destined for a cruel end.


	2. Challenge Accepted

**Rating: **M for Sexual Content and Course Language.

**Author's Notes: **I was having too much fun so I whipped up this chapter! Arrogant Sasuke is too funny to portray (but bullied-Sakura is terribly amusing as well). Now you know exactly what was going through both of their heads. There will be a lot more awkwardness, frustration and chasing in the chapter(s) to come! I kind of want to alternate each chapter with Sakura, then Sasuke POV, but I don't know if people will find that a bit repetitive. Let me know what you think of that?

Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter! I'm happy there are some people who share my sense of humour :'D

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**Chapter 2: **Challenge Accepted

. . .

I.

The incessant ringing of the phone on his bedside table roused the sleeping Uchiha. He rolled over on his side, trying to ignore the loud sound while simultaneously cursing whoever was calling him at this hour. Just what the hell did they think they were doing? Without even looking at the clock he could tell it was far beyond the socially accepted time to call someone.

Still, the phone persistently rang, making it impossible for his half-asleep body to relax and resume its much needed slumber. How long does it take for a person to realize that he was not going to answer the damn phone?!

One more ring was all it took to make him snap.

He slapped his hand down on the mattress and angrily sat up in bed. Whoever was calling better have a damn good reason to disturb him. If not, he was seriously going to make them regret the day they crossed him. It was probably Naruto. He was going to beat him to a pulp, but slowly, to savour his sweet revenge.

Grabbing the phone, he bit out a rude, "Hello," and waited for whoever was on the other end of the line to tell him that the world was ending, because anything less than that warranted his unbridled fury.

He waited a full minute for a reply. Briefly, he considered that perhaps it was a prank caller but then the absence of a dial tone meeting his ear informed him that someone was still on the other end of the line. It actually made him angrier to think that this person had the nerve to, not only wake him up but also make _him_, the Uchiha Sasuke, wait. His impatience was growing.

"Is someone there?" he asked, tone dangerously low and eyes narrowed as he glared at the blank wall on the other side of the room. Although he didn't receive an instant reply, his ears faintly picked up on the sound of heavy breathing. A bit creepy, but as an Uchiha he was used to handling weirdoes like this on a regular basis.

Finally, the silence was broken by a breathless, "_Sasuke-kun_."

Raven brows furrowed in concentration. That voice was familiar. He knew he'd heard it many times before and his mind quickly raced to put a name to it. Soft, warm, filled with affection for him; only one person's voice fit all those markers.

"Sakura?"

Curiosity momentarily cut through his annoyance as he wondered why his pink-haired teammate was calling him. For the past few months since rejoining as a member of Team 7, she had been reserved with him, a shadow of her former desperate and clingy twelve year old self. It actually made things much easier between them because he didn't really want to deal with unwanted affections.

"Y-yes." Her broken voice rang in his ear. She seemed to be in some discomfort, but seeing as her life was apparently not in any danger, his irritation started to mount once more. The prolonged stretch of silence added to his ire. Did she just call him up to hear his voice of something? So damn annoying.

Trying not to sound like a complete ass, he asked, "Is there something you want?" Though, even as he said it, he could hear the impatience had not left his tone and would still be quite obvious to the pink haired girl. Honestly, if this had been Naruto he would've hung up the phone by now, but knowing Sakura, she would take such an action much too personally and would end up depressed for the next week. If there's anything worse than an annoying Sakura, it's a depressed one.

Sasuke glanced longingly at his pillow. His body ached from training all day and a slight headache gnawed in his skull, he so badly just wanted to lie back down and sleep for a good, undisturbed, six hours. Was that really asking too much?

Suddenly, her loud voice chirped into the phone, making him pull the blasted thing away from his ears a few centimeters to gain some reprieve. Had she no decency at all to let his body adjust to being dragged out of a deep sleep?!

She apologetically spoke, "O-Oh, I'm so sorry! Did I wake you, Sasuke-kun?"

Yes, he wanted to say. _Now beg for my forgiveness_. But, to say that would be admitting that she had caught him in a vulnerable position and that would not do. Instead, he settled for releasing a frustrated sigh, running his fingers through his messy ebony locks and warning her with a single word to cut to the chase and get to whatever it was she wanted, "Sakura."

All he could hear were her shallow pants. Seriously. Had she just come in from night-time training or something? What the hell was up with her. It seemed as though she had nothing at all to say to him and was just wasting his time completely.

With his hand clenching the phone tightly in frustration, he finally decided enough was enough. "Look. I'm going to hang up the phone now," his terse statement icily bit the air and his thumb brushed over the button to disconnect.

"No wait!" Came her desperate response. His eyes shifted to the side as he shortly debated whether he should just hang up anyway and pretend her plea came too late.

Maybe it was her frantic tone, combined with her unusual behavior, or perhaps he just wanted to have an actual reason to justify having answered in the first place. Either way, the stoic Uchiha listened carefully for the words next spoken.

"I… the truth is… the truth is that…" As she fought for words, he found his breathing stilled in his chest, and some nervous perspiration formed on his forehead. She wasn't going to… confess her love to him, was she…

"Sa-Sasuke-kun!" He swallowed and pressed the receiver closer to his ear, "I-I… You see… I…" It was weird to hear his teammate stammering and shyly spilling out a rash of jumbled words, yet in the back of his mind he was wondering why his heart rate seemed to hasten.

The next words he heard uttered from her lips almost had him chocking.

"I touch myself thinking of you!"

Did she just…

What. The. Fuck.

He didn't have a mirror but he was pretty sure the heat in his cheeks meant that he was red in the face, and his heart definitely stopped beating for a good ten seconds as his mind struggled to comprehend exactly what the rosette had confessed to him. Surely he misheard that because no one blurts out, for no reason whatsoever and completely out of the blue, that they _get off_ while thinking about you. The rational side of his brain tried to reason how he possibly miscued the meaning of that sentence. There had to be an innocent explanation to it. It was there, somewhere.

Somewhere.

Still searching.

Nope. No matter how he tried to rephrase that sentence in his head, the meaning remained the same. And, he wasn't a dirty-minded person like Kakashi or Naruto so he couldn't even chalk up his unitary understanding of the statement to a perverted mind.

His hand with the phone dropped to his lap when the dial tone reached him and he leaned back against the headboard of the bed. Feeling numb, tired, vaguely violated, and a few degrees warmer than usual he stared blankly at the ceiling.

Who the hell does that.

Wake you up in the middle of the night with an awkward phone call, announce that they touch themself to thoughts of you and then hang up the goddamned phone, leaving you with nothing more but the silence of your empty room.

Apparently, Haruno Sakura does.

For the first time in his life, Sasuke was so stunned he didn't even know what to think.

II.

So, it turns out when a girl makes a _naughty _confession to a guy, there are a few certain _undesirable_ consequences. One of them being restlessness, another being inability to sleep, and still a more pressing issue being…

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration as his fingers clutched the sheets tightly. His eyes were screwed shut, a definitive scowl adorned his attractive features and his partially sweat-soaked hair lay slewed over his forehead and the pillow. Internally, he cursed. Just what the fuck was wrong with him!? His body was all hot and bothered. Something stirred deep inside him, making his lower portion tickle uncomfortably. His legs twitched, begging to be rubbed together only he adamantly resisted the urge because instinct told him it would make things a whole lot worse. Instead, he opted for lying immobile on his back and focusing all of his attention on trying to still the rapid beating of his heart.

Ever since his stunned mind recovered from _that _unexpected phone call, it started flooding him with all the wrong sorts of thoughts. At first, he couldn't stop replaying the sound of her breathy, stammering voice as she yelled '_I touch myself thinking of you!'_ Despite the content, she still sounded shy and innocent, and it made the nerves in his gut feel as though they'd been given an electric charge. To be honest, he'd never really given any thought to her _doing it _or not. For most of his life he'd been a little preoccupied with more serious issues, like revenge and his hatred. His mind was an island that had no need for bodily desires.

After his mind grew tired, it seemed, of replaying what transpired between them, it decided to activate its imaginative side by plaguing him with more vivid details of exactly what Sakura was referring to. It's not like he _wanted _to picture her lying on her bed, with her legs spread and her fingers dipping in between her wet folds while panting his name out. Oh, how she said his name, with her mouth hanging open and her eyes hazy with lust. It just happened!

Then he started to think, what if she was in her bed at that very moment, thinking about him? Did she think about him often? When she looked at him during Team 7 training days, did she think about the times she thought about him?! His mind was ablaze with questions. Needless to say, it made for a significant amount of tossing and turning as he tried to dispel the evil images from his mind.

Now, it was six in the morning and he felt he hadn't slept at all.

Slowly, his squinted eyes opened and briefly, he stared at the white ceiling above before his gaze drifted downward, past his well-toned abs and directly at the most horrifying sight of all.

"_Fuck_," he hissed in absolute disgust with himself. As if the mental images weren't enough.

It was a sad day, indeed, to discover that even he, Uchiha Sasuke, was very much human. The half-masked bulge, tenting his loose fitting pajama bottoms told him as much.

His fisted hands twisted in the sheets as he glared down at his treacherous body. There was no way he was going to touch _it._

No. Way.

Uchiha's didn't resort to such debauchery, and despite his bad boy image, he was a _good_ boy. Not some hormonal, sex-crazed teenager that needed to jerk off two or three times a day. He wasn't Naruto for God's sake! This must be a fluke. A once-in-a-life-time occurrence, due to fatigue and sleep-suggestion from a minx-like, pink-haired seductress.

Taking a few deep breaths, he tried, again, to collect himself and will his body back into submission. He was the master of his body. After everything he'd overcome in his life, something like this would be no problem for him to eliminate.

'Sa-_Sasuke-kun!'_

Shit. He growled lowly in pure frustration. Why did his mind betray him too?

Abruptly, but with some caution not to aggravate certain _sensitive _areas, he sat up, disentangled the sheets from his body and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood and grabbed a fresh pair of clothes, hissing every so often when his legs rubbed together in mid-step and a bundle of excited nerves shot up his spine. In a rather awkward manner, he made it to the bathroom where he decided the only option he was left with was to take a cold shower to, literally, freeze the living daylights of the burning ache between his thighs.

Reaching forward, he turned on the ice-cold water and carefully slipped out of his bottoms. When he put his hand under the sprinkling water to test the temperature, his arm immediately prickled with small goose bumps. Then, like ripping a bandaid off, he took a deep breath and jumped into the shower.

All the air seemed to depart his lungs as his body tensed and heart leapt in his chest. He clenched his teeth, fighting his body's protest to leap out of the bath and seek comfort in the warmth of a towel. No, he told himself. Just pretend this is like a training exercise to see how long he could fight the cold. His arms flew out to grip the shower wall and help keep him firmly planted in place. His body hunched over, letting the cold water run down the back of his head, down his neck and back. Then, he shut his eyes and calmly took deep breaths to relax the clamoring of his heart.

His idea seemed to be working. Or, at least, it seemed to work for the first minute or so while his body was too in shock to dwell on anything. Unfortunately, as his body gradually acclimated to the temperature, so too did the bundle of nerves down south start to awaken with a vengeance.

With great discomfort, he peered down at his erect manhood before quickly (shyly) looking away. Even though the cold shower was making him start to shiver, it seemed it did little to temper the heat in his groin. He really didn't want to touch it. To do something so _dirty_. No way. It would be embarrassing. He would not_._

He would **not.**

Definitely not.

Never.

Maybe just a little brush of the fingers would be enough to make it go away; a little readjusting of its position. It might just need a small little tap to relieve the pressure. It's not like he was going to stroke it or anything. His hand twitched a little against the wall before he hesitantly brought it to his need. With a feather light touch his fingers ghosted along the underside of his heated flesh.

_Gods. _

He bit his lip to repress a moan. He didn't know such a light touch could make him feel so… _good_. Imagine what it would feel like if he wrapped his hand around it. Yeah, that should be okay because it wasn't like he'd be getting off on it. He fisted himself and swore under his breath. This was even better, except his whole length was practically screaming out at him to share the attention. It actually hurt a lot and he had to squint his eyes shut in an effort to block out the ache, his entire face was contorted in pain.

There was just no way he could put up with this any longer, he felt like he was being driven crazy; like some insane need was trying to scratch its way out from his insides. It's like a mosquito bite. One that you _have _to scratch in order to make it better. The trick is not to go overboard and scratch it raw.

Sasuke was every bit a composed human being so he would know when to stop.

And, with that reasoning, he gave a small, tentative tug.

That time he couldn't hold back the gasp that passed through his lips, nor the shudder that coursed down his spine. He gave another tug, this time longer and covering the full length of his flesh. Soon, he was thrusting into his hand, his pace picking up and panting. _Panting! _

He could… still stop whenever he wanted to.

Suddenly he wondered. Did Sakura ever think of him doing such a thing when she, heaven forbid, _touched herself. _Maybe. His mouth dropped further open as he struggled for breath between thrusts. Or maybe, she pictured herself being the one to touch him like this. Her coy little hand wrapped around him, teasing him and making him shake with pleasure.

The taut muscles in his abdomen seemed to constrict and warmth pooled in his belly. The pleasure was at such an agonizing level that he felt, surely, he was going to snap.

He was almost there! He didn't know what he meant by 'there', he just knew deep inside him that something was about to burst.

"… Ooh!" His eyes flew open, vision exploding in white as something hot and wet spilled over his hand and the shower wall. It was pure, unadulterated bliss that washed over him.

Sasuke continued heaving for air, his thoughts a blur as he leaned against his arm still connected to the wall for support.

Well. With a haphazard glance between his legs, he saw his problem had been solved. But, looking at the wall before him, he realized he had a new one to deal with.

He was going to make Sakura pay for this.

III.

The next day, Sasuke showed up at the Team 7 training grounds for his regular spar with Naruto feeling particularly furious. It seemed his once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-repeat-itself fluke decided to defy the laws of nature and visit him once more.

He was _so _going to kill a certain pink haired female. Or at least force her on her knees to beg for his mercy, and while she was down there she could use that dirty little mouth of hers to…

Bad train of thought. He was just going to kill her.

"Oi, Teme… your face looks more constipated than usual," Naruto chuckled at his insult as he approached the stewing Uchiha.

Sasuke's head snapped in the direction of the blonde and delivered his coldest, prepare-to-die glare yet.

Even his best friend had to take a smell step back before continuing, unperturbed, with a grumbled, "Geeze, what the hell is your problem… did you forget to jerk off this morning?"

At the words 'jerk off', the sole surviving Uchiha actually blanched and all the saliva in his mouth evaporated, leaving his mouth as dry as Suna. With a godly degree of restraint, he resisted the compulsion to look down at his pants just to double-check and make sure there was no evidence on him that gave away his morning activity. He was pretty sure there was nothing there…

The blonde waved his hands dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, I know. You're as pure as a temple warden." He rolled his eyes at the raven-haired male's unearthly level of chastity.

A sigh slipped past Sasuke's lips as he turned his back to the blonde and proceeded to walk to the centre of the training grounds, all the while hiding the faint tinge of pink that crept onto his cheeks.

Seriously. _A blush_!? Uchiha's definitely did not blush. He was pretty sure there was a gene in his DNA that made such a thing an impossibility. His father did not blush. His brother definitely did not blush. Can you imagine Madara blushing?! No way. He refused to accept that he would've inherited such a pathetic trait from his mother. It had to be that he was coming down with a slight fever or something.

Pushing down that line of thought, he decided he would take out his frustrations on Naruto during their spar. A plan formed in his head. He would push them so hard that they would both be injured to such an extent that they'd have to go to the hospital, where he could take the opportunity to interrogate a certain medic that _always _healed their injuries.

He smirked as he jumped up to initiate his attack. Soon he'd see what Sakura had to say for herself.

IV.

You can imagine Sasuke's surprise when he and Naruto showed up at the hospital that second day, both limping with gashes and bruises all over their bodies, to find that Sakura was nowhere to be seen. Now, Sasuke by no means kept track of what the kunoichi's respective hours were but he did know that up until that time, he'd never yet failed to see her flash of pink in the halls of the hospital. It made him a little more than suspicious that, the one time he actually wanted to talk with her, she was absent. What are the odds of that? He had a sneaking suspicion that she was hiding out somewhere but couldn't confirm it without looking a little too desperate to find her.

After he and Naruto hauled their asses to the hospital for the second and third time that week after their brutal 'spars', and still failed to catch a glimpse of their fellow teammate, he knew without a doubt one simple thing.

Haruno Sakura was avoiding him. And, like any good Uchiha, he was going to get to the bottom of it, because no one bends his mind against him without paying the price.

So, when Naruto asked him if he wanted to join him for ramen later that evening with Sakura, he said yes without hesitation. He didn't particularly love ramen, but he had a new goal in life: Operation Pay Back. He didn't know the exact details of the plan, only that the end result would be Sakura being unable to sleep for the next month due to the overwhelming amount of pain and suffering he was going to inflict on her. Let's see how she would like shocking her system bright and early every morning in a freezing cold shower after having spent all night tossing and turning.

It's not like he was going to _act_ out on his most recent fantasies. Disgusting! They were just minor slip ups. A few minor slip ups in a long and troubling week. He felt fairly confident, no, _absolutely_ confident that as soon as he made her go through the same suffering he'd been going through, that all of this would end and his body would revert back to its usual apathetic state.

V.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he approached the Ichiraku ramen shop, spotting only one pair of orange clad legs behind the curtain. She better just be late. He slipped under the curtain and stiffly sat in the chair next to the loud-mouthed blonde.

Already Naruto was on his second bowl of ramen. Having to sit with his best friend, while he slurped bowl after bowl of the steaming dish was, quite possibly, the most obnoxious thing ever. The dobe held no refinement, no trace of mannerisms and no concern for how uncomfortable his boorish eating habits made those around him feel.

His eye twitched while he curtly made his order. Damn. He really wanted to question Naruto on Sakura's whereabouts but didn't want it to seem as though he actually cared. Instead he would bide his time, suffer through the blonde's rants and crude jokes for a bit until asking, offhandedly just where the hell was she.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait for long.

Naruto started snickering. Then he eyed the brooding Uchiha indiscreetly every five seconds. Pathetically, the blonde brought his hand up to cover his mouth as he tried to bite back the bubbling fits of laughter.

Breathe Sasuke.

Inhale. Exhale.

He gripped the spoon tightly in his hand. God. He _really _wanted to use it as a weapon and impale the idiot right through the top of his hand. His _right_ hand. See how he gets his jollies off then. And, wow. That was the first time he ever made an internal dirty joke like that before. His pure mind really was slipping.

"Guess what, teme?" Naruto could no longer hold back his excitement.

Sasuke refused to partake in this little game of his. Nothing the blonde could say would interest him in the least, and he was far above asking for details on his life.

"Sakura-chan said she couldn't make it today."

Another deep breath.

"But…" Naruto grinned widely. It was almost as if her were gloating over something.

Raising his arm enthusiastically and eyes twinkling incredibly bright, Naruto proudly announced, "She asked me out on a date tomorrow!"

.

.

.

Sasuke literally choked on the broth in his mouth, coughing out the warm liquid and wheezing for air. His lungs burned and every time he tried to take in a large gasp of oxygen, a fresh bout of coughs broke loose. Holy shit, he was going to die by ramen.

Oh, how the mighty fall!

With his fingers clasping his constricted throat, he eventually managed to take in some air. At least two minutes passed and the only sound in the small shop was his heavy breathing. In his ears, he could hear his heart beating wildly, desperately trying to ease the growing numbness that spread in his chest from lack of oxygen.

Naruto gaped at him, "Seriously Teme, She asked me out on a date. It's not like we're gonna have sex."

S-s-sex!? Sasuke stuttered in his head. He felt his cheeks burning up, but thankfully his near-death experience could be pointed to as the root cause.

Sakura was the one who said she touched herself to thoughts of him, why was she asking Naruto out on a date! Unless… did she also think of Naruto?

No way! He would not share space in her fantasies with Naruto.

His fists slammed down on the table, shocking both Naruto and the shop owner but he disregarded their glances and stood up with his face blank and his eyes cold. He was beyond livid.

Turning to Naruto, he harshly bit out an "I don't give a _fuck_ who you _fuck_," before briskly making his way to a certain kunoichi's house. He definitely did not want to _do it_ with her, he just wanted to make sure she suffered for distorting the purity of his mind. Sasuke was so incensed that he didn't even hear the wail of discontent that ripped through the streets when the shop owner informed Naruto that his friend forgot to pay.

He was going to march right up to that blasted girl's house and demand that say unsay what she said about that touching business. And a date with Naruto? He snorted, clearly her brain got scrambled because no one in their right mind would go out with the dobe. Unless…

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks.

Was it possible that she was messing with him? Saying something like _that_, avoiding him and then taking Naruto out on a date. He didn't really know how a woman's mind worked but that seemed like just the sort of conniving thing someone of the female gender would do. They did normally resort to trickery and the sort when they couldn't beat a man physically, and let's face it, no one had a chance of beating him. Uchiha Sasuke. _The _Uchiha Sasuke. The proclaimed Ice Prince and God's greatest gift to womankind. Prepare for one confrontation you will never forget Sakura.

With an added purpose to his steps, he marched right up the steps to her house and knocked on the door. She damn well better not make him wait long. Fuming, he glared at the door and frowned.

When the door opened to reveal the object of his current bloodlust, he had to fight against every bone in his body the desire to string a bunch of curses in her face, activate his mangekyou sharingan and mentally torment her to the point where she wished she was dead.

As he carefully observed her reaction, he noted how she shivered before looking up. It seemed, when she laid eyes on him, a sudden transformation took hold of her demeanor. Her green eyes widened impossibly large and her knuckles turned white from clinging to the door so tightly. It literally looked like she'd just come face-to-face with her death.

Good. She was smart enough to know her doom when she saw it.

"Sasuke-kun," she faintly spoke his name. It was akin to the way she breathlessly gasped his name in his dreams at night or when he pictured her annoying face while in the shower. That he felt his heart skip a beat only served to increase the intensity of his glare.

Sakura appeared to understand his contempt because her shoulders sagged and head drooped to the ground. Perhaps he would take an ounce of mercy on her guilty soul for at least submitting to him so nicely. But then, she really did do a number on him so probably not.

"We need to talk." He bit out coldly, fed up with this tiring game she'd been playing with him for the past five days. It was time it ended.

Now that he thought about it, he wasn't entirely sure what exactly he wanted to say. He would, obviously, never admit to being affected by her physically. How degrading would that be? The Ice Prince's body stirred to action by mere words. That really would not do. Plus, it'd be horrifically embarrassing to talk about her masterb—He couldn't even say the word inside his head without feeling a bit mortified. Maybe he could just be really vague and let her fill in the details. Yeah, he'd say 'the other day' instead of reinterring her exact words.

"It's about th-" He began speaking when instantly her eyes shot up with that same panicked expression as before.

"Oh my goodness!" She loudly interrupted him, which took him aback slightly because people just don't talk over him. There's an unspoken law against it, he's pretty sure. "I just remembered I have somewhere important to be! Yes! Um, well sorry! I uh, I gotta go!" Before he could even register the words, the door slammed and he was face-to-face with a large slab of wood.

Did she just… Shut a door in his face?

A fucking door. In. His. Face.

Who the hell did she think she was!?

An important place to be _inside _her house?

His obsidian eyes narrowed dangerously low as he all but burned holes into the wooden door in front of him. If there weren't people walking around on the street behind him, he'd literally break the door down and snap her limber body in two. This was far from over.

With his fists clenched at his sides and one last death glare at the door, he spun around and made his way home. The rage inside his gut boiled like a burning hot fire and his breath came out in long, shaky exhales. He made a solemn oath with himself, the weight of the entire Uchiha name resting on his shoulders. He would have his vengeance.

Haruno Sakura would rue the day she initiated this game with him.

Those who cross Uchiha Sasuke are destined for a cruel end.


	3. Unexpected Run In?

**Author's Notes: **As I was typing this, the entire time I couldn't stop thinking how exciting/fun it is going to be typing this from Sasuke's POV. Also, I think I truly enjoy torturing Sakura. Perhaps my sadistic powers are awakening. Whenever I start working on this fic, I have no idea where the plot is going but then ideas keep coming to me and it all leads me down a long and winding path in which my head is thoroughly stuck 'in the gutter'. If you have any ideas for scenes, feel free to share with me! I can't guarantee that I'll use it (because my thoughts are usually pretty free flowing), but it might give me further inspiration to draw from!

Please review, I live for them!

* * *

**Chapter 3:** Unexpected Run In?

. . .

When she was younger, Sakura had been told on multiple occasions that women possessed a sixth sense when it came to sensing creepers in the night. Up until very recently, last night to be precise, she never really believed it. It seemed to be a figment of fictional work, unsubstantiated by fact. Yet, here she was, in broad day light, with her creeper-sonar blipping furiously.

Sakura shivered as she shut the door behind her and pulled out her key to lock it shut. Even her hand shook a little, making it a bit difficult to get the metal key inside the small key slot. She didn't know what it was, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on edge and her entire body was tense, as if she were seconds away from being attacked. She was loathe to admit it, but she had seriously contemplated several times in the night calling up Ino and asking if she could sleepover, just to have another body for protection.

Hesitantly, she glanced over her shoulder as the lock clicked shut. Seeing no one, she made her way down the steps from her front door and paused at the bottom to glance at all the vantage points a person would likely hide among the buildings surrounding her small apartment. _Odd_. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

Shaking her head, she released an anxious sigh and quickly skipped onto the sparsely populated street. Ever since Sasuke's unexpected visit the evening before, she felt antsy. It was as if something, or _someone_, malicious was watching her. It wasn't the typical 'you're-about-to-be-murdered' feeling, it was more like the 'you're-about-to-be-murdered-in-a-very-ungainly-wa y' feeling. She had even gotten up twice to make sure her bedroom window was locked. It was like being trapped in her own personal horror movie and in the back of her mind the suspense music was playing in a perpetual loop.

With each step, she unconsciously picked up her pace so that she could make it to a more crowded street. Her arms tingled and hands twitched with growing perspiration. Really. What was wrong with her? Sasuke was a genius after all, he would be able to tell from her reaction last night that this was not a subject she wanted to discuss. He had never had a problem with respecting personal boundaries before, she highly doubted he'd develop that problem out of the blue.

Suddenly the overwhelming thought that she was about to be grabbed filled her senses, and the loud voice in her head was screaming at her to make a run for it. It was such an overpowering feeling; she could practically feel the hand wrapping around her shoulder, pulling her back and suffocating with malevolent intentions.

The pink-haired female stopped abruptly in the middle of the street to toss a glance over her shoulder, fully expecting to be greeted by the face of her mystery attacker.

This was it, her moment of truth!

Her eyes widened, mouth dropped open in partial horror and heart sagged in her chest as her eyes came face-to-face with...

_Nyan. _

A small black kitten stared up at her before darting across the street to some hidden alleyway.

Sakura clasped her chest, letting out an exasperated sigh. She was a respected kunoichi, yet here she was, practically trembling in her shoes. How paranoid was she! To think, that Sasuke would have nothing better to do with his precious time than to stalk her. She laughed out loud, receiving a disturbed look from a pedestrian walking by. Sasuke, watching her? Ha! The day that happened would be the day Naruto ate vegetables for breakfast.

After internally scolding herself for being so childish and un-shinobi-like, she continued making her way to the busy street ahead.

Little did poor Sakura know that in some corner of Konoha, Naruto had just learned that he had eaten through the last of his cupped-ramen. Grumbling, he ate the only thing available in his entire apartment: a shriveling up carrot from the back of his fridge. He sneezed, before forcing the unpleasant meal down his throat.

When Sakura stepped onto Konoha's main street, she allowed herself to relax after seeing that crowds of people were already gathering to perform their morning shopping at the marketplace. The main reason why she decided to leave the safety of her house that morning was pure and simple: food. That blasted necessity, which chews up your wallet and forces you to think every day '_what am I going to eat now?_' She needed only a few items: some vegetables, fruit, and possibly some fish. All things that would help get her through the next week.

She slowly made her way through the farmer's market gates and casually started collecting the items on her grocery list. The fruits and vegetables were fresh and tempting. She spent a good half hour simply picking out the best and ripest items she could find, before finally making her way over to the meat section. The delicious aroma of fresh meat filled her senses. It's not that she was a meat-lover or anything, there was just something about the smell of fresh meat that made her mouth water.

After picking out a small salmon, she continued to browse through the various other options available. She stopped abruptly after stumbling upon a rare dish, which she'd only ever tried once before during a mission. Herbed sausage. There was only one package of the unusual food and she briefly contemplated purchasing it for dinner later that week. Deciding there was no harm in it, her hand reached for the item. Just as her fingers brushed over the plastic cover, another larger, hand swapped the item up right from under her.

"Umm," she turned to look at the middle-aged man who, in her opinion, just stole the last package of herbed sausage from her. "I think that really belongs to me," she mumbled in a mixture of irritation and surprise at the man's overtly rude action.

"Are you the one with it in your hands?" He bit out snidely, and before she had the chance to retort, he snapped out a curt, "No."

The attitude of this man was really rubbing her the wrong way. First, he steals her package of sausage and then is excessively rude about it? No. This man didn't know who he was messing with. If she really wanted to, she could squish him like a bug with her insane strength but, alas, Tsunade would not be too pleased with that at all.

With her hand on her hip, she growled, "Look sir, it's common courtesy to hand the item over to the person who first reaches for it."

"Yeah well, it's common courtesy for _little girls_ to respect their elders." He went to step around her in an effort to leave but she defiantly blocked the way.

"I'm not a little girl, old man." Perhaps, getting into a pointless argument over a package of sausages was not the highlight of her life, but the whole ordeal was about principles, and this man clearly needed a lesson in manners.

"Really?" He asked sarcastically, "You could've fooled me." Sakura was about to bite back a snide remark but just then, the man gave a once over of her body as if to emphasize more thoroughly her lack of curves in relation to her state of womanhood.

"_Excuse me?_" Her mouth dropped open, insult written clear across her face. The urge to punch him clear across the length of building overwhelmed her, causing her fist to shake at her side. Who cares if she didn't have a Hinata-sized chest or an Ino-sized _derriere_, there were plenty of men who happily sought after... Um, slim? Girlish? No, that definitely wasn't the word she was looking for. Lithe. Yes, some men liked their females lithe and more akin to possessing door-like curves. That didn't make her any less _woman_.

In her state of shock and forceful self-restraint, the man pushed past her only to stop dead in his tracks. It remained quiet for several seconds until he uttered a faint, "P-please... let m-me by..."

Sakura's entire body whipped around at the sound of the man's suddenly meek voice. To her utter horror, there, not six feet away stood a deadly looking Uchiha. The man of her most recent nightmares and the reason for her paranoia. Looking at his dangerously narrowed eyes, his unkempt hair, that peculiarly seemed to fall perfectly in place, and his crossed arms, she couldn't help but shiver. Her knight in shining armour? It remained to be seen.

Lowly, Sasuke grit out, "Give the girl her sausage." Sakura internally chided, _woman_. Give the _woman_ her sausage.

"I-it's mine..." The man weakly tried to stake his claim, but anyone with an IQ could tell he'd already lost this bizarre competition over meat.

Taking a step forward, in seeming slow motion, Sasuke's continued, "She wants _it_. So give _it _to her." In another context she might've misconstrued that to have a double meaning, but seeing as Sasuke was downright terrifying at present, she completely disregarded that thought. Besides, from what she gleaned, he didn't have that type of mind.

"But," the small protest ended as soon as the raven-haired man took another, small step forward. The weight of his menacing aura was too much for the poor, middle-aged man who shoved the package of sausages into Sasuke's chest before quickly running off.

Deftly, Sasuke pinched the corners of the package and examined the meat inside with, what could only be described by Sakura as a disgusted expression. "You eat this?" His nose shrivelled up slightly, allowing Sakura to confirm that it was _definitely_ a look of disgust on his face.

"It looks..." He began with his eye twitching minutely but quickly snapped his mouth shut before finishing his thought. Hastily, he practically threw the package at her, forcing her hands to snap up defensively as she caught the much-in-demand piece of meat. Er... pieces of meat.

Did he really find they looked _that_ unappetizing?

"I like sausage," she mumbled under her breath before turning her head to stare at the ground with a small blush spreading across her cheeks. It was more than a little awkward having Sasuke rescue her from a sausage-snatching thief, especially after she'd gone to such lengths to avoid him.

"Thanks," a genuine smile crossed her features as she added, "You're a hard man to refuse, ne?"

"Whatever." He grumbled in reply.

Sakura's unease amplified now that it was just the two of them, but Sasuke seemed to be acting like his usual, testy self so she conceded that, perhaps, he had decided to forget their little phone call the other day. She almost wanted to laugh at herself for being so foolish. Of course Sasuke would look past it. He had grown a lot since he returned to Konoha. Most importantly, he learned to let bygones-be-bygones and not obsess over the past. She was proud of him. The two of them could continue on with their lives like two, mature adults and completely forget about—

A set of fingers wrapped tightly around her upper arm and tugged her roughly. The sudden momentum driving her forward tilted her off balance, forcing her to stumble in a desperate bid to remain upright. She was sure the only thing keeping her from falling outright was the strength of that same hand that initiated this entire stumbled sequence.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura protested in a whiny voice as he dragged her down the aisle at a pace she had difficulty matching. His aggressive pull made her trip several times, yet he didn't even spare a glace to see if she was alright. Apparently, all his chivalry had expired and replaced with a brutish quality.

"You're being too rough!" He completely ignored her plea. Actually, she felt the grip on her arm tighten further, which forced a small whimper from her lips. "You're hurting me..." He growled lowly in warning to her protests.

"Tell me what you want, Sasuke-kun," she offered hopefully, trying to reason with him so that he would calm down enough to relinquish his unyielding hold on her.

When he ignored that as well, she decided to use the most effective tactic she knew against the stoic Uchiha: tears. Everyone knew that the cold, aloof Uchiha didn't know how to handle tears, especially the tears of his pink-haired teammate. They clung to the edges of her big, green eyes, threatening to fall and she gave a little sniff so that he would know what was coming.

In the weakest, neediest voice she could muster, she again whimpered out, "Sasuke-kunnn, let me—"

Her abusive captor halted abruptly, causing her to collide with his back. The small 'oof' that popped out, however, was quickly swallowed when a pair of angry onyx orbs glared into her wide eyes. His features screamed bloody murder and sent her mind reeling into a panicked pitch.

"You." His index finger pointed menacingly in her face and he grit out between clenched teeth, "Stop. Talking."

Sakura stared in stunned silence. When was the last time he ever told her to shut up!? He was the one vice-gripping her arm with a fury that promised to leave the area bruised. What did she do to warrant his ire? It's not like she... Just as the thought entered her mind, another, more striking realization hit her.

"Why don't you have any groceries?" She eyed his empty hand suspiciously, while backing up as much as was possible with him still gripping her arm. That uneasy feeling she felt walking here, his unexpected arrival, the anger... He was still mad. In fact, he was probably trying to drag her off to her doom!

"What." He snapped in the midst of giving her another yank. The tug caused her head to bump into his chest. The contact only lasted a split second, but it was long enough for her face to heat up from the feel of his solid, toned chest, and her cheeks to darken in colour from the uniquely Sasuke-scent that entered her nose. Quickly, she dislodged herself from the contact, not at all feeling comfortable with the way it affected her.

"Y-you... You," she fumbled with words as her eyes drifted around the aisle for an exit strategy. "Didn't you come here for _something_?"

Surely, her paranoid mind was reading into this all wrong. Maybe he was just out for a walk and happened to run into her purely by chance, only one (half) day after showing up unannounced at her house and demanding that they 'talk'. How can you even talk about something like _that_? No matter how many times she envisioned it, she couldn't ever imagine any transference of actual words between the two of them. No, instead, she pictured herself at the end of it as a red-faced, blundering mess with such shame and humiliation that she literally would curl up in a ball wishing to die.

A pregnant pause stretched between them with her thoughts all jumbled and confused. The only thing she knew for sure was that nothing good ever came from being on Sasuke's bad side. What happens when you get on his bad side? You die. Simple as that. Oh god. Despite everything, she truly didn't want to die yet. He would probably make her death extra painful.

"I need..." In her peripheral vision, she saw him reach over and grabbing something, "breast," he finished lamely.

Now it was her turn to snap her attention to him, "_What_?" The heat in her cheeks amplified and she stared at him, wide-eyed, as his head lifted from the package in his hand. Quicker than she could decipher the expression on his face, he flung the item in her small basket and turned on his heels.

"Chicken breast." He gruffly muttered out.

That was... uncomfortable. For a moment, the only thing she could think about was... She squeaked and blushed furiously at the ground. If Sasuke looked back at her now, he would probably assume she was a mega-pervert for thinking so immaturely.

He continued his blistering pace to the checkout line, neither uttering another word or sound the entire way. Sakura started making escape plans while the cashier started checking through her small pile of groceries. Running away might be a bit much as her first option. Maybe she could say she had an important appointment to make it to... She glanced up at Sasuke to see him glaring at her. Quickly, her eyes darted back to the cashier. Perhaps that plan would be too obvious. She needed something with more tact.

"Is this everything, Miss?" The female cashier asked, happily oblivious to the pink-haired kunoichi's plight. _Is that everything. _Everything. The sentence repeated inside her head until her eyes widened in planned release.

"N-no..." She breathlessly uttered. The wheels of her mind still turning.

"Oh?" The cashier's head tilted slightly.

"No, I..." She quickly turned to Sasuke, gazing up at him imploringly, "Sasuke-kun, I forgot to get some... ginger, do you think you could—"

"No." His terse tone abruptly cut her off. It took her a bit by surprise that he would deny her flat out, but then, he never was one for the gentler manners.

"Then..." Sakura looked longingly at the bag of groceries the cashier had set aside before deciding that their sacrifice would be worth it in the end. "I guess I'll go get it." With a feigned sigh of disappointment, she made to step around the Uchiha currently standing in her way but he sidestepped and blocked her way once more.

"Um, excuse me?" She frowned at his chest, which was directly at her eye level. His creamy smooth skin and perfectly symmetrical collarbones stared back at her teasingly. She had to wonder, for a man who despised fangirls, why did he reveal so much skin. He was practically asking for it. Gulping, she mentally slapped herself and cursed at the growing heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Get it some other time."

"But I really need it now," she whined weakly. The most perplexing and conflicting mixture of emotions battled in her body; making her feel hot while freezing with dread. She felt like a trapped animal. How could Sasuke read her so easily?

Talk about unfair use of ninja skills.

"You don't _need _it right now." Sasuke practically hissed out, clearly not about to let her by. Her gaze dragged from the V of his shirt to give a final, fleeting glace at her freedom just over his shoulder. Just what was she thinking, ogling his body when there were more important things to worry about!

Grudgingly, she pulled out money from her pouch and handed it to the cashier. Maybe she could slip into the crowd when he walked in front of her and then sneak away in the opposite direction. That would probably be a bit better than bolting for it; it'd be a bit harder to explain the latter under any favourable light.

Reaching for the bag that the cashier held out for her, she politely thanked her and turned to Sasuke with her last and final 'subtle' escape plan.

Laughing nervously, she weakly smiled at Sasuke, "Well, thank you for your help Sasuke-kun." She took a cautious step back, readying herself for a quick exit. "Oh, um..." She dug into her bag, "Here's your chicken." With that, she held the package of chicken at an arm's length.

The edge of the package brushed against his chest, and she watched anxiously as his hard gaze left hers and looked down blankly at his chest. He did nothing, making her shift uncomfortably where she stood. With her patience rapidly slipping, she gently nudged the item further into his chest as another cue for him to take it. Seriously, if he wasn't going to take it, maybe she should just drop it and leave...

His hand snapped up and curled around her wrist without warning, making her breath catch in her throat. It felt like time slowed while she watched in eerie fashion as his eyes slowly trailed from her wrist to her panicked expression. Was it just her or did the air grow thicker?

"Sasuke... kun?" Her voice was weak and filled with uncertainty.

"You're coming with me." His dark eyes narrowed and the edges of his mouth tugged down in a frown. There was a short pause, in which her stomach sank. Then, he dangerously spoke the words she most dreaded hearing, "We need to talk."

"But... but!" She began desperately but he'd already started to walk, dragging her unwilling-to-move body behind him as they exited the farmer's market. She wasn't ready for a conversation like this. She was still too innocent, too immature to have a... A _sex talk_ with a boy!

"I don't want to come, please!" With urgency, she pulled on her arm and tried to free herself but Sasuke was determined not to let her go. The humiliation, the judgments, the glares. Oh! She was definitely not ready to face all that. Not from Sasuke, he would rip her to shreds and make her cry from embarrassment. To have the man she loved most think so poorly of her, she didn't think she could bear it.

"I'm not ready for this," Sakura pleaded, her cheeks already red and tears of shame brimming on the surface. "I'm sorry!"

All she wanted to do was shout at him, and blame her actions on that awful game of Truth or Dare. That game she never liked to begin with, the one that started this entire sequence of events. Her mouth opened, to make the announcement, but it closed again in hesitation. It went against the principles and entire purpose of the game to share your Dare with non-participants. When Ino found out, and surely she would, there would undoubtedly be unforgiving consequences. What they would be, she could only venture a guess, which made it all the more terrifying.

"I... I," They were bumping into people left and right, but ahead she could see the end of the crowd. Her heart thundered in her chest, each step taken was a step away from the safety of the crowd and a step toward the dangers of seclusion. "Can't you..." Her voice got caught in her throat for a few seconds but she quickly willed it to continue, "Can't you pretend it never happened?"

There was a momentary loosening of his grasp as he ground to a halt. Without taking time to contemplate his actions or look at his face, she tore herself free with such vigor that she almost fell from the momentum generated by her forceful tug. Sakura dropped everything, her bag of groceries, the package of chicken, she even ignored the angered comments from the unfortunate civilians she'd just bumped into. She did the only thing a reasonable person would do in such a situation. She hightailed it out of their and fled like a girl possessed, pushing and knocking over anyone that got in her way.

Sasuke was quick on her heels. That inhumanly long reach of his saw his fingers ghosting over the skin on her hand but she threw her arm forward just in time to prevent the limb from being caught. She was not proud to admit it, but she even shoved a few people behind her to act as human shields and to slow her pursuer. Perhaps she was imagining it, but she was sure she heard several uncharacteristic grunts and curses from the deadly man chasing her.

With the desperation of a cornered animal her attention darted in all directions, looking for some place to hide. Then, she saw it. It was like the clouds parted and revealed a glowing beacon of hope, the light at the end of her deep dark tunnel, the one place Sasuke would never enter. All she needed was a temporary distraction.

Abruptly she swerved on the tip of her toes and dived in between two bodies, flying through the air before she somersaulted into a narrow alleyway. Her clothes were dirty from rolling through the powdered dirt, and sweat dripped down her forehead. She only managed to take two steps deeper into the cramped place when a powerful hand slapped down on her shoulder, rattling her body to the very core. The intent laced into that one hand alone promised a world of pain and she was too paralyzed by fear to chance a glance behind her shoulder to confirm her suspicions. In the next instant, that same hand roughly threw her up against the wall. Her eyes widened, heart stopped and her body...

Burst into a cloud of smoke. In its place, a small twig dropped to the ground with a light patter.

Substitution jutsu at its finest.

On the other side of the street, Sakura ducked into her safe haven and made her way to the back of the small shop, which was divided from the rest of the store by two, creaky wooden doors that were akin to the type often seen in old cowboy films. She leaned against the back wall, with her hand clutching her throbbing heart and her heavy breathing filling the empty room. Sweat trailed down her bare skin and her legs wobbled, overcome by the swell of panicked nerves and the dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Shutting her eyes, she tried to concentrate on regularizing her breathing. Her free hand leaned back against the shop shelf, coming to clutch a thin, rectangular shaped object for added support. In the midst of her recuperation, she heard the squeaky wooden doors swing open. She paid no mind to the customer. Her thoughts were preoccupied with her 'near-death' experience and the necessity of filling her body with much needed oxygen.

Silence stretched for several seconds until she grew increasingly aware of the stranger's unwelcome attention on her. She tried to ignore it. Couldn't they see that she was struggling here? Her brows furrowed in frustration and she fought the urge to snap out a '_didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to stare_' comment.

The stranger cleared his throat to notify her of his presence and—Wait. Didn't that habit sound just a bit _too _familiar? No way, she was imagining it.

"Sakura-chan," the voice spoke lightly, torn between amusement and discomfort. It definitely sounded familiar.

With a final twitch of her brows, she slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of...

"Kakashi-sensei?" She asked curiously, surprised to be seeing him. Despite wearing a mask, she could see the way his lips curled up in a smirk, and his sole-revealing eye gleamed with a certain playful quality. It was altogether unsettling, making her shrink further into the shelves behind her.

"Enjoying a good one?" His playful smirk twisted into something downright mischievous.

"What? No... I..." Her fingers slipped on the rectangular item she'd been clinging to, making it clatter to the floor at her feet.

Both of their sights dropped down to the item in unison, stirring a weighty pause between them.

Sakura stared, doe-eyed at the green book cover with the title, in bold across the front, _Make Out Tactics: Unrestricted XXX_. If that wasn't enough to make her realize that the gods certainly had a sick and twisted sense of humour, than surely the graphic picture of two _naked _cartoon figures in a position she didn't even think was humanly possible, confirmed it. Her wide, green eyes popped out in absolute mortification at the gut-curdling image.

"I-it's not what it... I didn't... t-that," she stuttered, too aghast to form any semblance of coherent thought. A deep shade of red exploded across her cheeks, neck, and god only knew where else. This certainly looked bad.

She looked up to see him scratching the back of his head, looking to the side slightly with a tinge of... _pink_ adorning his cheek!? Had he ever blushed before?

"Ah," he chuckled a little, "So early in the morning, Sakura?"

All she could do was gape at the silver-haired man as her legs threatened to give way beneath her. When his head slowly tilted back to her, she saw something hidden in his coal eye she'd never seen before, nor could she explain. The shiver that raked down her spine made her visibly finch. Why is it that she felt endangered for the second time that morning, and both by males from Team 7.

Shaking the troublesome thought from her mind, she puffed up her chest in an outward display of imaginary confidence, "Sensei!" She yelled with her fist at her side, "I'm not a pervert!" For added measure, she stomped her foot on the ground.

Kakashi watched her before slowly replying, shaking his hands in front of himself in a somewhat apologetic gesture, "Hai, hai, Sakura-chan." His head tilted to the side, and briefly, she felt a wave of relief sweeping off her. He understood! Kakashi could tell she was perfectly innocent and that all these compromising run-ins the two had were entirely uncharacteristic of her. It was times like these that she was truly thankful she had been given him as a sensei.

"I keep saying the same thing to Naruto and Sasuke too." He rubbed his chin in contemplation, "They never seem to believe me though."

Horrified, Sakura muffled scream with her hands. No, no. There was no way he just said that. She felt her waning dignity slip through her hands. "Please sensei," she began desperately, wanting him to see that she wasn't the pervert he thought she was.

"I only came here because of Sasuke-kun," with un-ushered tears in her eyes, she looked up at him, her hands now fisted in the fabric of her shirt.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye now widening in surprise.

"Yes!" If it hadn't been for Sasuke's relentless efforts to punish her, she never would've run into the restricted section of the small bookshop in the first place. This ghastly and disturbing cesspool of lascivious desires was purely made for lewd and baser individuals, not for someone as inexperienced as her.

"I see. I didn't know..." He spoke darkly, yet Sakura nodded fervently at his growing understanding of the devastating situation she was in, "that Sasuke would ask you to come in here and purchase these kinds of books for him."

. . .

Breathlessly she uttered out his name while shaking her head in stunned belief, "Kakashi-sensei..."

The entire situation felt unreal, as if she weren't even inside her own body anymore. Numbly, she shuffled to the two wooden doors, creaking one open so she could hastily slip out of the room and decide on the quickest way to end her life. She took a step outside when Kakashi's hand captured her shoulder. He gave a gentle, comforting squeeze, and her head turned back to send him a final, sad smile.

"You forgot this," he smiled warmly, holding out the green-covered book for her in a way that made it seem like the most harmless, wholesome reading material ever.

Sakura realized then one startling conclusion. There was no way her sensei deserved the title of genius. He was either a pervert or a sadist, but never a genius.

.

.

.

After making her way out of the bookstore, she stumbled aimlessly down the streets until the sun was beating down at her, high in the sky. How had so much happened and it was barely even midday?

Somewhere in all this aimless wandering, she had even run into Naruto. _Of course_, she thought. It would hardly be a complete day if she hadn't unexpectedly encountered all three of her male teammates. Feeling wary and concerned for the wellbeing of her mental health, she adamantly insisted that he not to reveal the location of their so-called 'date' later that evening to anyone. She didn't want to take the chance of running into _any _unwanted guests along the way. It was a little challenging explaining why exactly, no one could know, but he ultimately relented and didn't protest much when she demanded that they eat at a restaurant located on the other side of town.

Perhaps, it was simply one of those days that start out badly and end on a high note. She couldn't really see it getting much worse...

How much can fate throw at one person in a single day?

Haruno Sakura would soon find out.

* * *

**A/N: **Whew, I think I should write a side story to this on KakaSaku. That would be pretty naughty!


	4. Rules of the Game

**Warning: **Some course language.

**Author's Notes:** I will try to update Twisted next, it's just easy to finish writing Sasuke's chapter in this fic once I already have Sakura's done (because I don't really need to plan out how the chapter will go). Ahh, I just love writing from Sasuke's POV here so much, I feel as though we are one /shot. Also, it's the funniest because as I'm writing this fic, everything people say or msg me somehow comes across as having a double meaning.

My goal is to get 75 reviews! I hope that's not too ambitious...

* * *

**Chapter 4: **Rules of the Game

**. . .**

As was all too frequent of late, Sasuke had woken that morning to a monstrous problem that simply _demanded _his attention. He hated this new, pathetic routine of his. It was beyond frustrating, and probably the most degrading thing he'd ever done. That was saying a lot.

Strangely enough, for the better part of the evening, he had entertained himself by conjuring up images of all the ways in which he'd make a certain pink-haired kunoichi suffer for her latest behaviour. His thoughts had been so overpowering that he wouldn't have been surprised if half of Konoha sensed his murderous intentions. He still didn't know exactly _how _it would all go down. That was merely a detail of inconsequential importance. All that mattered was the end result, which would be her, in tears, pleading with him to stop, and promising to never invade the privacy of his dreams ever again.

How his mind had gone from dreaming of her ugly and violent downfall to vividly picturing all the ways she'd deliver his body to sky-high ecstasy, he really had no idea. The two seemed to be mutually exclusive. Apparently, they were not.

Another thing that made no sense: How could his body enjoy something that his mind found so vile? Up until her phone call, his mind and body had always been one with each other. Now, they were each others greatest enemy. Life had been easier when he engaged in the simple kind of revenge. All his previous opponents operated under the same set of general rules and guidelines. That is, physical violence done unto him or his clan members begot physical violence done unto them. Not Sakura, however. She threw out all the old rules and created a whole new set that thoroughly messed with his mind.

It was safe to say, in a matter of words, that Haruno Sakura had mind-raped him, and she continued to do so on a nightly basis.

Determined to pay her back swiftly for _oh, so rudely_, slamming a door in _his_ face, he left his house particularly early that morning to lay in wait outside her apartment.

Any normal person might wonder why he didn't just jump her as soon as she exited and locked the door safely shut behind her, but as with everything, Uchiha Sasuke had a certain image to maintain. It couldn't seem as though he had been _waiting _for her. To allow such an assumption to enter her big forehead would automatically spell insult and defeat for him. An Uchiha doesn't wait on anyone. People, especially the female kind, flock to him. Never the opposite.

So, here he was, back pressed against a brick wall of a deserted alleyway, prepared to follow her until the perfect moment to present himself arose. He watched, carefully, as she paused at the bottom of her steps and glanced around, looking for _something_.

He held his breath and reduced his chakra signature to an undetectable degree, waiting for her to continue on her way. Even if she had enough skill to sense that something was off, there was no way she'd ever be able to beat his ninja skills and locate him.

In the midst of his self-inflating thoughts, something small and furry rubbed up against his leg. His attention snapped down and he glared at the little black kitten, now staring up at him with its big blue eyes, begging for attention. He gave it a little nudge with his foot to get rid of it, but it read this as a signal to meow loudly and continue brushing up against him with added fervour.

"Piss off you stupid cat," he hissed under his breath while sidestepping to create more distance. The last thing he needed was for some stupid, needy animal to give away his location.

'_Nyan, nyan.' _It started mewing loudly, darting in between his legs and playfully swatting his feet.

Sasuke's brow twitched in irritation. This loudmouthed, idiot, attention-seeking animal was really starting to remind him of someone.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Sakura starting to make her way down the street with growing speed. He wanted to move positions, keep her clear within his sights so she couldn't slip away but the persistent kitten all but humped his leg for attention. Shooting it several deadly glares did nothing to temper its affections. Sakura was getting further away, soon she would be at the main street and who knew what kind of evasive tactics she'd engage in once there.

With an angry growl, he gave the kitten another, rougher nudge. It paused its actions and peered up at him. The two stared deep into each other's eyes, one with adoration, the other with... well, murder on the mind.

Abruptly, the kitten launched itself at his leg, sinking it's baby claws into his pant leg and rubbing its head against his shin.

Equally abruptly, the Uchiha's leg shot out, flinging the small kitten clear across the street, followed by an irate, "_fuck off._" Damn animals.

He watched in partial horror as the infernal creature landed deftly on all four legs before launching down the street, directly headed for another, completely different kind of annoying creature. It skidded to a stop right behind the pink haired female he was currently... investigating. To use the word 'stalking' would be a bit strong; such an activity would be entirely uncouth and unbecoming of the sole surviving Uchiha.

What was that stupid animal doing? Was it trying to get him discovered! As if on cue, Sakura stopped walking entirely and shot a glance over her shoulder.

Her expression was priceless. It was like she came face-to-face with a ghost, and Sasuke had to hold in the dark chuckle he wanted to let out. If she gave such a panicked expression over some tiny, little kitten, what was she going to do when he finally sunk his claws into her? What a joke. He was looking forward to that.

The black kitten quickly darted off down an alleyway on the opposite side of the street. Sakura released a visible sigh of relief, turned and continued on her way.

Maintaining a close yet safe degree of distance, Sasuke followed Sakura throughout the marketplace. She seemed to waste a lot of time looking over every single damn piece of fruit and vegetable until she found one that suited her impossibly high standards. He also noted, with much disdain, how she completely ignored the stand with fresh tomatoes on sale. Clearly, she was didn't know how to shop.

When she made it to the meat section, he watched from the other side of the aisle as she picked out a salmon and then looked over other, various protein dishes. She was so slow at grocery shopping, he was literally growing more irritated with each step she took. He needed her to leave this crowded place so that he could corner her in a more secluded spot, without many witnesses.

His attention was temporarily diverted when, for the second time that morning, something _touched _him. This time, it was in the form of a finger tapping his shoulder to gain his attention.

"Uchiha-san," a small, excited voice reached his ears. He ignored it.

The finger now left his shoulder and replaced itself with an entire hand, "Uchiha-san?"

He looked over in annoyance at some brown-haired, chocolate brown-eyed female with a high ponytail. It took him all but three seconds to decide that he had no clue who this person was. He assumed she was a fangirl.

"It's been so long since I last saw you," she began happily, blushing slightly. "I was thinking, maybe you'd want to go out for—"

Definitely a fangirl.

"Busy." Sasuke blankly uttered the single word, completely tuning out the boring female who mumbled something under her breath before huffing off.

His attention returned to Sakura, who now seemed to be engaged in a rather heated argument with some middle-aged man. How could he tell it was heated? Primarily from the hand on her hip, the way she leaned her weight on one leg, and how she was pursing her lips. No. He did not think it was weird that a single glance at her body language could inform him of such. Uchiha's were simply perceptive beings.

It seemed the two were arguing over... His eyes drifted to the sign in between them that read 'Herbed Sausage'. Whatever that was. Although he couldn't make out the entire conversation, he read their lips well enough to pick up on certain key words and phrases, 'common courtesy', 'little girls', 'old man'. They seemed to be degenerating into name-calling.

Sakura's mouth then dropped open in apparent insult at whatever the other man said. Even though it was a little amusing, he found himself increasingly incensed. It's not that Sakura was completely losing her stake of claim over the sausage. No, instead it was that man. What right did he think he had to mess with something that he had prior rights to mess with?! If someone was going to make her mouth drop open like that, it would surely be him.

Unable to hold back any longer, he ducked out of his observational position, as he liked to call it, and took several long strides until he stood in the way of the man's retreating path.

Crossing his arms, he delivered one of his well-versed looks of intimidation and succeeded in stopping the man dead in his tracks. Honestly, this girl always needed saving.

With a look of complete and utter terror, the middle-aged man faintly stumbled out, "P-please... let m-me by..." What a weak and pathetic person. Men who could only act tough around little girls truly deserved the name of scum.

At the sound of the weak voice, Sakura hastily turned around to face the scene unfolding.

"Give the girl her sausage," he ground out between his clenched teeth. It really was an odd sounding word, _sausage_.

"I-it's mine..." Sasuke decided this man was not all mentally-present, because no one denies him. Especially not when he's in this state.

The dangerous looking raven-haired male took a step forward, the weight of his menacing aura coming off in waves. Lowly, he bit out, "She wants _it. _So give _it _to her."

Somewhere in the back of his mind he started thinking that the way he just worded that command didn't sound all that proper. It was probably because he referred to every nasty and torrid detail of his dreams as collections of 'its'.

Then again, according to her own statement, _'I touch myself thinking of you'_, she probably did want whatever _it _was.

"But," the man uttered his final noise of protest, because in the next moment, Sasuke took one more, small step. His overall stance and mood betrayed no doubt over the seriousness of his demands, and quickly, the package of sausage found its way into his possession as the man shoved it in his chest and briskly took off.

Pinching the corner of the package, he slowly raised it to eye-level so that he could finally see what was so great about this meat. He was expecting to be greeted by some godly-looking piece of food, but instead he was confronted with something very unpleasant indeed.

"You eat this?" He asked incredulously, feeling complete disgust for whatever this lewd, suggestive meat was. Was Sakura really into this kind of thing? The shape and size of the sausage, the roundness at the tips and the way it curved ever so slightly... She actually put this in her mouth? Who the hell would eat something so nasty looking.

"It looks..." His eye twitched before his mouth snapped shut. There was just no way he could say it aloud. Angered by the image flashing inside his head of Sakura putting something like _that_ inside her mouth, and eager to dislodge himself of the raunchy food item, he flung it at the pink-haired female. If she wanted it so badly, she could _have it_, but he wanted nothing to do with it.

When she caught it, she mumbled out a weak, "I like sausage," and stared at the ground.

Was that a slight shade of pink on her cheeks? No way, was she actually thinking about _it _right now!? He scowled and quickly mirrored her actions by glaring at the ground. He didn't know how or when she had caught onto him, but she was totally mind-raping him again.

Suddenly, she looked up with a smile, "Thanks. You're a hard man to refuse, ne?"

. . .

Wrong. He was an impossible man to refuse.

"Whatever."

Sasuke watched as Sakura lost herself in thought. It was rather uncomfortable because she was staring blankly at him after just having said how she liked 'sausage' and that he was hard to refuse. Did that mean she was... He felt an all too familiar, unpleasant heat rush down to his stomach. _How annoying_.

This girl was singlehandedly causing more damage to his mind than Itachi's mangekyou sharingan ever did. He needed to make her suffer _now_.

In frustration, he grabbed her arm and yanked her forward with every intention to drag her straight out of the marketplace whether she came willingly or not. He'd haul her sorry ass to the Team 7 training grounds and give her a swift beat down.

"Sasuke-kun!" Her whiny voice reached his ears and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her antics. It's not like he was hurting her _that _badly. She'd better be prepared for much worse.

"You're being too rough!" At that, his breath hitched and grip tightened. That sentence sounded oddly like déjà vu, except the only time he ever heard it coming from her was in the dream he had last night. Her whimpering only completed the image to perfection.

"You're hurting me..." She sulked weakly.

What the hell.

She was doing this on purpose! How did she know exactly went on in his dreams!? Had she learned some new technique he was unaware of? Even though he had already conceded she was a conniving female, he never realized that she had planned this out so thoroughly.

In response he growled at her, not-so-subtly informing her to stop talking. This was all becoming a bit too much and his control over his lower portion was starting to wane. There was just no way he could allow something so repugnant to take place in the marketplace, of all places.

"Tell me what you want, Sasuke-kun."

What he wanted? What he wanted was for her to shut the hell up and stop saying his name in such a pouty, needy, desperate voice. What he wanted was for her to stop getting inside his head and scrambling it senseless. What he absolutely, without a doubt wanted, was for his stomach to stop tingling with excited nerves, heating the spot between his legs uncomfortably, and threatening to expose his problem to the entire marketplace. If she kept talking, _it_ was absolutely going to... become a visible problem and there was just no fucking way he could ever live with himself if that happened.

She sniffed behind him, trying to guilt him for his forceful treatment of her with tears. Well. That wasn't going to work because the she was only guilty person here.

In the weakest, neediest voice her ever heard, she whimpered out, "Sasuke-kunnn, let me—"

That was it.

Sasuke stomped his foot down, coming to an abrupt halt. He didn't care at all that the suddenness of his actions caused the pink-haired girl to smack dead into the centre of his back. All he wanted was for her to afford him a modicum of decency by politely, and quietly, following him to a secluded location where he could promptly pound her into the ground... literally, of course.

"You." He waved his finger with fury in her face, clenching his teeth in untamed rage, "Stop. Talking."

To his relief, she gaped at him in quiet astonishment. It was much easier to think when she wasn't blabbering.

In all of thirty seconds since stunning her into silence, he could start to feel the untamed heat in his gut reverting to the more familiar feeling of annoyance, though he didn't much like the growing sense of suspicion taking root in her expression. She wouldn't try to run, would she? Surely she knew better than that.

"Why don't you have any groceries?" Her gaze drifted to his empty hand and he felt her pulling back from his tight grip.

"What." He bit out quickly, roughly pulling her forward to prevent her from escaping. The hell was she talking about groceries for?

When her head bumped into his chest, he tensed a little but refused to pay any attention to the involuntary reaction. He did, however, pay attention to the way she inhaled into his shirt and hastily shied away from the contact with a deep shade of red adorning her cheeks.

Did she just... sniff him? Not only that, did she just sniff him and conjure up bad thoughts about it?

God. His stomach performed a flip, making him feel all the more violated.

"Y-you... You," she was glancing around in search of an escape. "Didn't you come here for _something?_"

He couldn't very well say he came for her. To admit such a thing would be a great dishonour to himself, and he'd already suffered enough blows to his pride over the past week.

Glancing around for the nearest thing to grab, he finally reached down and picked up a random package of meat, "I need..." He looked down at whatever it was that he'd chosen and almost choked. Of everything in the market, he managed to pick up the one called chicken, "breast." The word lamely left his lips before he even realized he said it.

"_What_?" Sakura's face somehow grew redder and her eyes widened to that impossibly large, panicked shape she had just the night before when he said they needed to talk.

Seriously. Had food _always_ been so suggestive?

Sasuke could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks at the humiliating slip and launched the chicken into her basket before turning on his heels to hide the infernal blush creeping onto his face.

"Chicken breast," he quickly corrected himself in an effort to make it seem as though he was entirely unaffected. It's not like he had actually been paying attention to whatever it was he randomly picked up.

At that moment he decided that marketplaces, and food in general, were dangerous things to be around and that to get far away from them while in Sakura's company was now a top priority. Impatiently, he tugged her all the way to the checkout line, thankful that she finally learned to keep her mouth shut.

Sasuke released his grip on her when they reached the cashier though he continued to keep a close eye on her as she unpacked the groceries. He'd learned from experience that whenever Sakura stayed quiet for more than a few seconds, it usually meant she was plotting something. It was altogether extremely suspicious when she chanced a momentary glance at him before quickly turning rigid and snapping her attention back to the cashier.

She was definitely plotting.

"Is this everything, Miss?" Sasuke glared as the conversation unfolded, already a step ahead and knowing full well where it was headed.

"N-no..." Her hesitant reply and the glazed look in her eyes informed him that his suspicions were absolutely correct.

"Oh?"

"No, I..." Sakura's big, green eyes pleaded with him, "Sasuke-kun, I forgot to get some... ginger, do you think you could—"

"No." He was unmoved by her pleas and, frankly, more than a little insulted that she actually thought him that gullible.

"Then... I guess, I'll go get it." She attempted to step around him but he followed her movement and blocked the path. Did they really have to do this? Her pretending and making up excuses in a pathetic attempt to avoid the inevitable punishment he had in store for her, and him having to continuously keep her in line.

"Um, excuse me?" Sakura asked weakly.

With some discomfort, he noticed her staring at the bare skin of his chest. It wasn't even a subtle glance, it was an overt stare. She was completely objectifying him. _Really_. He didn't wear open collared and deep V shirts to be gawked at by dirty minded people. They were simply the most comfortable and the easiest to fight in; his fighting style was extremely acrobatic so he needed clothes that didn't cling too tightly or hamper his movement.

Realizing that he had yet to reply, he dully informed her to, "Get it some other time."

"But I really need it now." Was she being serious? She needed _it_. Not only that but she'd reverted back to that weak and whiny voice that grated his nerves, and she was _still_ staring at his chest. He resisted the urge to bring his hand up an effort to cover himself; it really felt as though she were violating him with her eyes. That inconsistent heat in his gut instantly switched back from hot anger to something else entirely.

"You don't _need _it right now." He growled out, using all of his self-control not to grab her right there and then, whip her down on the ground and... Deliver a swift kick to her abdomen. Maybe a slap or two across the cheek as well, to silence her from speaking again.

Sasuke watched with relief as the pink-haired devil turned and hesitantly paid for her groceries. At least she wasn't staring at his body anymore.

Abruptly, she turned to face him while laughing, "Well, thank you for your help Sasuke-kun. Oh um..." She started searching through her grocery bag and pulled out the package of chicken while taking a small step back. Then, she held out the package, pressing it gently to his chest and smiled, "Here's your chicken."

Slowly, he dragged his attention away from her unsettlingly happy expression and blankly stared at his chest, and the edge of the package currently pressed there. What was her fascination with his chest? She kept touching and looking and... sniffing it so much. She really did have some weird fetish going on.

The item prodded further into his chest, causing his onyx eyes to narrow. She was still trying to escape him.

His hand shot up and he snatched her wrist before she could jeopardize his revenge plan further. He found himself slightly surprised at how petite her wrist was; his fingers could curl around its width completely and even overlapped some. With a leisurely pace, his dangerous eyes travelled up the length of her arm, over the elegant curve of her neck, past her pouty lips and to her terror-filled expression.

Sakura really was a _little _girl. It was going to be so easy to crush her and rid himself of these treacherous thoughts for once and for all. His breathing picked up in anticipation.

"Sasuke... kun?" Such fear in that voice. Good.

"You're coming with me." He frowned, thinking this little game of theirs had lasted long enough. She had her little victories and fun, but now he was going to make her promise to quit with all the shy glances, the extremely suggestive play on words, the weird food, the ogling, the smelling, the sultry voice, the invasion of his privacy, the pretending. Everything. It all had to go. He would not have it. And, most certainly, she would take back that phone call so he could go on living as though nothing ever had happened between them.

"We need to talk." Abruptly, Sasuke started dragging his captive outside the marketplace.

"But... but!" Her desperate plea fell on deaf ears.

It is as they say, you reap what you sow, and Sakura was about to be reaped.

"I don't want to come, please!" Sakura started pulling on her arm with renewed vigor, acting like a caged animal, but his grip remained firm. It didn't matter if she didn't want to come, he would make her. Yes. He realized exactly how wrong the thought sounded inside his head.

"I'm not ready for this," he could hear the tears in her voice, though he was a little bit confused... Was she still talking about getting away from him or did she think something else was going to happen? His cheeks tinged the slightest colour of pink at her implications. He was, most certainly _not_, going to... _sex _her.

"I'm sorry!"

Not sorry enough.

"I... I," Sakura stumbled for words, while Sasuke shoved his way past people who were far too close for comfort. He really hated crowds.

"Can't you..." Her voice hitched and he strained himself to hear whatever it was she had to say. The voices of the crowd were making it difficult to hear her. Thankfully, the end was in sight and he would soon have her right where he wanted her.

"Can't you pretend it never happened?"

The shock of her question caused his feet to freeze in place and his hold on her to loosen. It felt like the wind got knocked out of him. Did she really just ask that? _Him_? Uchiha Sasuke? She was the one doing all of this. She was the one who started it and now she was asking him to pretend it never happened? That whole 'two wrongs don't make a right' thing, the only people who say that are those currently on top. She had wronged him. The only way they could ever go back to pretending it never happened was for him to get even first.

In the split second that she forced a lapse in his concentration, she seized her opportunity for escape. Using her inhuman strength, she pulled herself free, dropping everything and dodging into the crowd like a crazy person.

Sasuke growled lowly in annoyance and tore after her, shoving anyone who got in his way with complete disregard for their wellbeing. Annoying people. He was so close behind her, he just knew she wasn't getting away. After pushing aside two people, the crowd seemed to part just enough for him to leap forward, stretching his arm forward. His long fingers were closing in on her, ghosting over her arm but the small touch cause her to fling her arm forward in avoidance. To add insult to this entire ordeal, she even flung a man and elderly woman at him. He grunted when the old woman elbowed him in the gut and, what he assumed to be her grandson, stomped on his foot.

Why were these people taking their aggression out on him! It's not like he was the one using them as body shields.

Cursing, he brushed his way through the mob of angry people and continued after the female he was increasingly starting to hate. There was no way he was going to forgive her after this.

Suddenly, Sakura turned sharply and dove into a dingy alleyway. Her impromptu decision to seek refuge in an alleyway amused him, since it surely spelled her downfall. Her chances of escaping him even with the crowd as an obstacle were slim, but now that it was down to a game of speed, he clearly possessed the advantage.

In two long strides, he had her.

Unleashing all his pent up fury, he slapped his hand down roughly and threw her up against the wall. He turned to her crumpled form, prepared to give her a swift piece of his fist _or something._ Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, sensing something about her as abnormal. He took a step closer for inspection but her body instantly burst into a puff of smoke. In her place, a twig fell to the ground.

"_Fucking substitution_," he grit out as his eyes quickly turned to search the crowd for her blob of pink hair.

This was all getting a bit ridiculous. Not that he had to keep tracking her down for revenge; more because she somehow kept evading him. And, if he were being completely honest, he had to say he was a pretty damn good ninja. Not just good, freaking amazing. The only person, currently alive, who posed a _slight_ challenge to him, was Naruto, and that was still only very slight.

Running a hand through his raven hair, the Uchiha silently seethed. Sakura was nowhere in sight but he could sense that she was somewhere nearby, which made it all the more annoying. Grudgingly, he departed the alleyway and slowly made his way back over to the spot where she'd unceremoniously abandoned her bag of groceries. He leaned down to pick up the bag and package of chicken breast, which for the most part, remained unharmed.

For the next half hour, Sasuke wandered aimlessly in the area he last saw the infuriating female but gradually, her faint presence grew more distant, until it disappeared all together. Frowning, he conceded temporary defeat and decided to retreat to the Team 7 training ground where he planned to release a lot of pent up, violent energy.

He needed a new plan of attack, a way to lower her defenses or render her incapable of any unnecessary movements. Also, preferably a way to ensure she didn't open her mouth and say something that diffused his ability to think properly. He had to trap her, make sure she was good and cornered, and definitely, he could not utter the phrase _'we have to talk'_, because that had consistently proven to send her into a desperate, unpredictable tailspin.

Females truly did engage in cruel and unusual methods of warfare. He still wasn't even exactly sure what he had done to warrant such an attack. Up until that phone call, she'd been acting normally. At least, he thought she had. Perhaps, she'd been biding her time? Waiting for him to grow complacent and unprepared for her assault.

His eyes briefly closed as he released a deep sigh. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since this entire thing started.

"Sasuke," a familiar voice called out behind him, but not wanting to deal with the unpleasant man, he continued walking as if he hadn't heard a thing. The man was like an insect, maybe if he ignored him for long enough, he'd leave.

"My, my, what an uncute student I have."

Onyx eyes slowly opened, finding the silver-haired male now several fight in front of him instead of rushing to catch up. He glared at his prying sensei with an obvious look of contempt, but this went ignored.

"I'm so glad I ran into you," Kakashi had a dangerous glint in his eye.

Sasuke glanced sideways, silently asking himself if it really was a coincidence that his sensei 'ran into him'. The look of amusement on his face was leaning him towards the opinion of a definite no.

"Sasuke." The raven haired man returned his attention in front of him, giving a look that asked '_what the fuck do you want?'_ He had more important things to deal with right now.

"I wanted you to have this," as he finished, Kakashi tossed something at Sasuke, who caught the item between his middle and index finger. Slowly, he dragged his sight from the suspicious man and peered down at whatever it was he just caught with disinterest. Immediately, his eyes widened before hastily narrowing in disgust. In his hand was some green covered book with the most disturbing image he'd ever seen in his life on the front, he didn't even think it was humanly possible for two people to be in such a position.

Scowling, he quickly whipped the offensive material back at the other man's head, hoping to knock out a several teeth in the process.

"Don't be obscene." He snapped out, glaring as Kakashi effortlessly caught the book. It felt as though the sanctity of his soul had been tarnished simply by holding such a horrendous book in his hand for no more than a few seconds.

"I'm not obscene." Sasuke scoffed and made to leave, wanting to wash his hand and eyes out with soap, but was stilled by the next words spoken by the Copy-nin, "Sakura told me all about how you asked her to pick up some reading material for yourself," Kakashi smirked playfully as his student's shoulders tightened.

"Sakura told you _what_?" He hissed out, face contorted in an unpleasant mixture of rage and indignity, giving the attractive young male quite the dangerous appearance but his sensei did not seem to notice.

"Don't be embarrassed, it's a natural—"

"Shut the hell up." Sasuke's look of revulsion persisted. He was possibly more horrified by the older man's efforts to actually talk to him about something so disgusting. It was most certainly _not _natural.

More importantly, however, was the thought that Sakura was spreading rumours and trying to make people think that _he _was the perverted one. Uchiha Sasuke, a reader of... _porn_?_!_ The word brought a bitter and fowl taste to his mouth. As if he would ever pick up such a depraved hobby. To think that Sakura would resort to such an underhanded tactic.

"You should be a little more thankful," Kakashi tossed the book back, which Sasuke allowed to hit him squarely in chest before flopping to the ground. No way was he touching something like that again. The silver-haired nin continued unperturbed, "Sakura picked that one out for you herself so she must consider it a good one."

Kakashi paused and corrected himself, "Actually, I _know _that she considers it a good one."

Sasuke's face scrunched up again, only this time in confusion. What was that supposed to mean, that he _knew_ she liked it? Did the two get together on a regular basis and discuss this sort of stuff? Now that was disturbing. Just how dirty minded was Sakura, reading the same books as their perverted sensei. No wonder why he'd been suffering so many unforgiveable defeats against her; she was playing unfairly, but that was about to end.

"Don't stay up too late reading, Sasuke," Kakashi warned, winking suggestively before disappearing into thin air.

Sasuke wasn't really paying attention though. Instead, his gaze dropped to the lascivious book at his feet. With a plan forming in that dangerous head of his, he smirked.

So. Sakura kept hidden such a vile hobby. Apparently, she wanted people to think she was some kind of innocent, goody two-shoe. What would people think if they knew just how perverted his pink-haired teammate was? After all, she was the one who said _she _touched herself while thinking of _him_. And, she was the one trying to make people think _he _read gross stuff.

No one defames the Uchiha name without reaping their own downfall.

Casually, he leaned down and picked up the book by the corner, touching as little of it as possible for fear it might infect him with something contagious. His cheeks turned slightly pink at the close up of the unpleasant image adorning the book cover but he quickly shoved it inside the grocery bag so he wouldn't have to look at it ever again. He didn't have much time to prepare.

He would make sure Sakura got her precious bag of groceries back, and he was suddenly feeling very much in the mood for a _date_.

The rules of the game had changed. To win against Sakura, he had to resort to the same, underhanded tactics too.

* * *

**A/N: **It's going to be an entertaining date night! I think my inspiration for this portrayal of Sasuke is from that filler episode before he leaves Konoha, where the three of them are trying to see what's under Kakashi's mask (the funniest ep ever?!). It's that fake 'I'm-not-interested' attitude lol.

I swear to you, sooner or later Sakura will have a victory! Although, I would say that getting (unknowingly) inside Sasuke's head is a pretty big victory in itself.

Reading reviews, it surprises me a little that some people read Sasuke so different from my intention here... I felt as though I dropped a pretty big hint that Sasuke thinks ****** when he is actually trying to hide ******. (I'm not going to give it away completely if you haven't figured it out!)

Thanks for reading!


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